


Project NIVEA

by EiriArgentum



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-11-08 23:32:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11092203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EiriArgentum/pseuds/EiriArgentum
Summary: Prompto has waited 2 years to return to Gralea in search of something he feels left there and in his travel, not only finds it but also, he will had the chance to see Noctis again.





	1. The emptiness of words.

**Author's Note:**

> ~~ SPOILER ALERT ~~
> 
> -> If you didn't have finished to play the game, please don't follow to read it. <\- 
> 
> This story occurs after the end of the game, personally I believe that none of the Chocobros (except Noctis) dies after the farewell. 
> 
> [ Sorry for my English, it's my first time with a fanfic in english. I hope you like it ^-^ Feel free to comment on anything you believe fit to improve the story. Thank you!]

Since his emotional farewell to Noctis, Prompto and the guys had not been seen again and however, the chobobro was quite certain that none of them had stopped eliminating the demons that Ardyn had left behind. Prompto's life had not been much easier since he separated from his friends, in his mind was more present than ever that his origins were in Niflheim and something inside had made him enter again on that way back pursuing something that only he could feel. When he got into gear he put all the warm clothes that he had in his backpack for to be able to better cope with the eternal cold that awaited him on all frontiers of the Empire because, no matter which way he chose before reaching the capital, he would find the icy tundra that characterized so much the horrible place.  
Prompto had not seen Niflheim since the last battle with the rest of his friends, It was a painful memory and coming back again only reminded him that his best friend was no longer by his side to support him when everything turned dark but now, instead of Noct, he had a tattoo that he would force himself to watch whenever his strength faltered: _If we walk, we’ll see you again_.  
During his trip to the Empire his camera didn’t stop working, little by little he realized that he was instinctively advancing along the same path he traveled with his friends the first time and since he did not at the time, he dedicated himself to immortalizing every significant detail he encountered: Camps, animals, even take a new photos with Cindy and maintaining a interesting conversation with her… _"Everyone will die of envy when they see it"_ he thought to himself when he showed the photos to the blonde women. Cindy had not stopped being the goddess he thought she was, although time will continue to pass Prompto always thought that she was beautiful and kind and – obviously– the Cindy’s garage was not around but It was worth going to the place.  


"It's been a long time since you've come here, it's nice to see a familiar face," she said, punching him in the arm.  


He laughed. Worshiped Cindy's voice. Cindy offered Prompto to spend the night in her caravan instead of the outdoor, and who would say not? Despite the embarrassment he felt when she asked him, Prompto accepted the request by tilting his head as he drew a half smile. What was not expected were the events that took place inside the caravan that night: After dinner, Cindy began to ask him about his adventures with Noctis and the guys, she wanted to know what happened to the prince in those ten years of darkness or why the sun returned to illuminate Lucis… And from there, she began to rummage through the feelings of the blond boy until without warning, the girl straddled on the Prompto's hip:  


"I've always wanted to know what it feels like when you ride a chocobo." She said.  


At first, Prompto didn’t know what she meant by that until Cindy's tender lips kissed him. It's necessary to explain what's happened after?

When he woke up it was early enough but still, Cindy was inside the garage repairing a couple of cars, Prompto dressed and discovered on the door of the caravan there was a voucher that would be for to get food in the bar. He smiled to himself, next to the voucher was a note written by Cindy: _“Good morning, my little Chocobo, I hope you don’t take so many years to come back again, last night was nice. Take care, Cindy”_. Not knowing very well why, he noticed how he blushed and even so, he left the caravan and acted as if nothing had happened.  
He had breakfast and said goodbye to Cindy and –after making sure no one looked at them– he gave her a quick kiss in the mouth and a wink as he left the garage. Despite the safety he had shown, he could feel his legs trembling even well past the frontiers of the city. The days became slower from that, every night that he camped Prompto missed Cindy, It was as if suddenly the heat of that girl had taken over his whole being and made him miss having someone to talk at night; it didn’t want to say that he could no longer live without her, but he had remembered his old nights surrounded by people whom he appreciated and once again, because of the Empire he was left alone.  
Time passed and the cold became more palpable as it approached the Empire’s frontier, since his trip he had not encountered any demons but he had also read that the few remaining specimens took refuge in Niflheim because anyone had shown an interest in the ruins of what had brought the decadence to Lucis and to the whole world. _"I must be the only fool that comes here"_ he thought as he walked along the abandoned tracks of the train that came to the capital. The icy wind froze his face and created a cold layer of frost on his skin, that night would not be enough to find a place to sleep, but he would have to rest somewhere where he could take refuge from the snowstorm that would hit the tundra when it was night. Luckily for him, he discovered a dilapidated train carriage on the ledge of a cliff, when at last he was in front of the train carriage he was removing the snow until he had a hole through which to go inside and once inside he let out a sigh of relief to see that there was nothing dead that made him vomit for being there. Perhaps the most difficult part had been solved, he went outside to see if he could find anything more to eat than the tin cans he carried in the depths of her backpack.  
In his walk he found nothing to move or could he chew, he was not a kitchen expert as Ignis had been during his trip but luckily, Prompto had learned something on his own in the time he was alone. When the light was showing signs of disappearing, he accepted that night he would eat canned food and returned to the train car, when lacked only a few yards left when he discovered strange marks on the floor, it seemed human footprints and came from the depths of the tundra, the footsteps were quite recent and although he ruled out that they were of an enemy or of an animal by the way they were drawn in the snow his heart began to throb with speed, Prompto looked for one of his pistols trying to make the minimum possible movement, since Noct had disappeared he had to carry his arms on him and to choose in each occasion (depending on his trip) which one of them was better option. The sound of loading the gun even made an echo and he waited in silent for a few seconds still waiting for whatever was walking in the snow gave some sign of being close, suddenly a sound pierced Prompto's ear and without stopping to think much, the guy started to run in the direction in which he had heard how that which was walking fell on the snow. When he finally found what he was looking for, his heart throbbed harder, giving him the feeling that it would come out of his chest: Before him was a human body lying face down on the snow. He ran to the person in question and turned it around, discovering that was a girl who should not have been more than twenty years old; the girl was only wearing a bulletproof vest on top of a military jacket that was wide enough to be his size, worn pants and boots that didn’t seem to be his either; luckily the train carriage wasn’t far from there so once he put his gun away, Prompto grabbed the girl as best he could and walked to safety inside the vehicle.  
Once there, his problem was another: the girl didn’t wake up and falling asleep in the cold could mean that she never woke up, Prompto kept moving, wondering what the hell to do until his blue eyes discovered that the real carriage door opened to the walls of the cliff maybe if he opened it he could improvise something to make a fire. He put all his strength into opening a hole large enough for him to enter in profile, to his surprise, in that place that faced the outside there was hardly snow since there was a plank high enough to avoid falling snow inside, the only that he had to do was move the plank to open a hole through which the smoke of the campfire would emerge. Without think about it, he began to search among the rocks small places to grab to be able to move himself to the wooden roof, with much effort achieved its goal and prepared using wood from the carriage abandoned a small fire (which was giving warmth and better light to that improvised sleeping alcove). Prompto smiled proudly of his work, he also thought that the fire would give a better flavor to the canned food and could also take advantage of it to have potable water from the snow; he dedicated himself to do all after wrapping the girl in one of his blankets and put her by the fire, when to look at her with more attention realized that it was quite familiar but could not say why: She was blond with her hair pulled back into a rather disheveled and leafy braid, he didn’t know what color her eyes were but the cheekbones and bridge of her nose were colored by a row of small freckles… _“She looks as Cindy?”_ Prompto thought. Automatically dismissed the idea but what other girl could he remember?  
While Prompto was in his canned dinner, the girl began to wake up. He stared at her, discovering with astonishment that she had a blue eyes and waited for her to orient herself. At first Prompto thought that she would be quite nervous since it was not very normal to find herself in front of a bonfire accompanied by a guy whom she neither knew nor had seen in her life but… nothing of that happened, the girl looked at him disoriented and then she tried to say something to him realizing that the words refused to leave her mouth. Surprised, she put a hand to her throat and blinks several times totally stunned. Prompto tried to help her and gave her a glass of water without getting too close, she accepted and after giving a few sips to the glass tried to speak again without success:  


“Don't worry, your voice will come back” He said with an extra comprehension in his voice “Do you understand at least what I say?”  


The girl looked at him and nodded slowly as if it really took a little to understand all that the blond guy was saying, he caught it and slowed his words as he spoke:  


“Do you want to eat something?”  


She smiled and nodded again. Both shared the food and to avoid the awkward silence between the both, Prompto kept talking and tried by all means to get information from the girl about who she was: His attempt was a failure because with slight gestures to nod or deny could not go too far but he descovered that the girl came from Niflheim, she could not remember why had left there but something seemed to frighten her, the girl didn’t have any hurt or feel sore and it was quite strange considering that the demons attacked without hesitating to all that moved… Even so, he didn’t want to push her too much, so Prompto wished her good night and leaned against the train car to watch for something or someone attacking them drawn by the heat of the fire.

When he woke up in the morning he felt the impulse to laugh when he was involved in a comical situation: First of all, he thought that if they had been attacked, he would not have been the first to realize because he was lying a few inches from what was left of the fire of the night before (a few of inches from where he thought he slept) and at his side, extremely cuddled, the girl who he had rescued the last night. When he looked at her again, the sensation of knowing her struck his chest, but he still didn’t remember what situation his paths might have crossed and more if she came from the Empire. He thought of the idea of seeing her when Ardyn drove the entire army versus Lucis kingdom and kidnapped him, but then he fell that there were two important factors that completely ruled out his theory: The first was that he had not seen anyone in his captivity and the second ... that the girl must have been a girl of no more than ten years when that happened. He stood up without making much movement and went outside to wash his face and save everything to get going again, suddenly, a small mirror fell to the ground and was fortunate not to break into the shock. When Prompto picked it up from the floor he was startled to see himself reflected in him: he was blond, not as light as the girl but had blue eyes too ... and cheekbones and nose colored with freckles... To his mind came the solution of who his new partner reminded him: himself. But how and why?  
The sound of her moving between the blanket brought him back to reality; the blond guy again peered into the hollow and helped the girl to rise up. She seemed to be able to stand.  


“Oh, wait... I don't know where you go but I'm going to Gralea” said Prompto.  


Without warning, the girl took his arm and shook his head. There was a small struggle in which in the end Prompto became enraged and made a bad move for to let go him of the girl, she was a bit frightened at first but when Prompto walked away to leave her alone more angry felt, she started to walk behind the man and when both were out of the train carriage, Prompto felt like a snowball crashed against the nape of his neck. As he turned, the blonde guy watched as the girl set out to create another icy projectile and her face showed considerable annoyance:  


“Ey, ey, ey, keep calm” said Prompto “I’m sorry, really, so sorry, I didn’t want you to get upset, but ... seriously, I have to go”  


The girl's eyes diverged for a moment and then she released all the snow she was trying to throw at him. Prompto smiled:  


“I'll help you get out of here so no one will attack you, okay?”  


She denied it energetically again, took hold of him and held her breath:  


“Go-with-you-too” finally said.


	2. The hidden truth of Gralea.

The road through the tundra was much more relaxed than Prompto thought at first. The girl (who had not spoken again) followed him the pace pretty well and didn’t present any problem with the cold that lashed the place and they walked in silence among the trees trying to find some corner where they could hide in case of being attacked:

“Ey... do you not remember your name?” asked Prompto.

The girl stopped a little surprised, Prompto realized this and turned to watch her and find that she had squatted on the snow as if she concentrated all her energy on a small space on the floor. Very slowly and stretching the index finger the girl began to write on the snowfall what appeared to be his name, Prompto came and stood at his side to be able to read it clearly:

“Ni-ve-a” he read aloud. She looked at him and after a hesitant second nodded with a smile on her face. “Oh… I like it, it’s beautiful”

He saw how the girl's face seemed to flush a little

“My name is…”

A creak in the air put them both on alert, cautiously both stood up. Prompto looked for Nivea's hand and grasped it, gently placed it behind him and with his other hand reached for one of his pistols under the coat he wore. A shot grazed his ear giving him the signal he needed: the enemy was behind them. Without waiting a single second Prompto started to run while pulling the girl with all his strength, luckily for him, the girl also ran fast enough and had good reflexes to avoid branches and obstacles that appeared in the escape while dodging some many projectiles that hit the tree trunks that just passed. Suddenly, Prompto stopped short when he saw a huge monster standing in front of them: on the contrary, was a Daemon; Point in favor, his pistol was effective against him. Pushing her, the blond guy pushed Nivea behind some rocks nearby so he didn’t have to watch out for her in his fight with the mutant. He had not faced anything like that for a long time and knew that he was on the right track, if the demons were emerging it must have been because the capital was near and for some reason ... or they were waiting for him or someone did not want him to come. So focused was the fight that when he wanted to realize he had to roll to the side because a gigantic precipice put an end to his elusive plan. With no time to counterattack, he raised the pistol and fired without even aiming. The shot failed and the Deamon threw him against the trunk of a nearby tree with a strong impact, Prompto felt his head bouncing against something very hard leaving him slightly dazed. Even lying on the ground the guy raised his head to locate his enemy with such bad luck that all he saw was how new attack of the monster was created in the environment for to hit him again, instinctively he closed his eyes and looked away until a small splash of snow hit his face. Prompto lifted his eyes wishing that Nivea had not interfered in the battle but the reality was quite the opposite: the girl was a few meters behind of the Daemon and was ready to charge again against her adversary, in her eyes shined the fury of a warrior still not exploded but the monster didn’t think to ignore her despite being a human who only wanted to defend herself with snowballs so the demon ran against her and punched her with his giant hand, the girl avoided it throwing herself against the ground and without warning she threw a pile of snow back into the eyes of the monster. The mutant shrieked and raged against her, furiously grabbing her from the ground, Nivea gave an agonizing cry as she felt her hold her neck and lift her from the snow, without think it, the Daemon threw her against a tree. Luckily, the blow was quite mild considering that Prompto caught her on the fly and although the two ended up crashing against the grove the pain was minimal for both, on the floor, the girl watched as the blond boy was already ready to launch a new and deadly shot that completely demolished the demon:

“Are you ok?” asked Prompto helping her to stand up.

Suddenly Nivea's vision blurred and she saw clearly as a woman asked the same question a long time ago. The woman's voice sounded clear, perfect, and her vision was too real not to feel the fear running down her spine and when the vision ended, a tremendous pain hammered her head from the depths of his being, unable to do anything, she raised her hands to her head as she dropped to her knees and shouted as hard as she could, trying to silence not only her pain but also Prompto's voice, asking her to calm down. Images, many images about who she was actually came to her without a brake making her see millions of memories in seconds: She knew who was that blonde guy, she remembered his name, in Gralea she read many documents with info about that blonde guy, about Prompto Argentum... She heard shots in her mind and began to feel electric shocks in her body and remembered the pain of the experiments in the headquarters of the Empire from where she remembered that came and for this, she didn't want to go again to Empire's capital. With her eyes wide open she looked at Prompto but did not have time to talk because she saw how behind the boy appeared a new enemy pointing against them:

“MOVE, PROMPTO!” she shouted while introducing her hand into his jacket, grabbing the second gun the boy was hiding.

But even though she pushed him to prevent a bullet hit his head, the projectile hit the side of his skull spattering blood on Nivea's cheek. Dazed, the only thing that he could see before he passed out was how the girl he believed defenseless fired right and left against several viscous, repulsive enemies he had never seen before. Soon after, he lost consciousness. There came a time when Nivea ran out of bullets with which to attack the five mutants, none of her shots had hit the target deadly, so that she had no chance to find a new weapon with which to defend herself so for more that she tried to avoid the riddance of its enemies, several attacks hit her body leaving her badly hurt and lying on the ground. From there she watched as a new Daemon caught Prompto in weight and carried him away:

“No…” she whispered crawling in the snow “Prompto! Wake up, Prompto!"

Unable to do anything else, she saw the enemy troop drifting away into the darkness:

“Bastards… come back here… Give me back him... PROMPTO!!”

 

 

The guy was unable to know how long it had been meaningless lying on the ground, little by little he was opening his eyes until his sight turned completely clear. He blinked several times trying to remember what had happened and although he managed to remember all the strong pain in the right side of his head made him hold his tears in a couple of occasions. With some pain he felt the wound that had caused the firing of the last enemies that attacked them, at thought that's, came to his mind the image of Nivea defending him using his own gun, as Prompto evoke her, a strange feeling pressed his breast, she had called him by his name when he had never say aloud it ... In addition her voice ... had sounded so similar to Noctis's voice... His chest hurt, he noticed that his stomach was upset and he was quite dizzy but he could stood up leaning against the wall of the room where he was. As he looked more closely he discovered that he was in a kind of abandoned office without windows except for a small crack in the door through which artificial light came in from outside, the room smelled of mold and perhaps of some dead rat, but everything was full of papers scattered on the floor and in rather poor condition. In the room it was cold so much that the blond boy soon saw and appreciated the steam of his own breath. With great effort Prompto began to walk, using the central desk to advance to the door, tried to peer through the crack but a sharp pain in the sides prevented it, he suspected that he had several broken ribs. Prompto put his hand on the doorknob and it was then that he realized that there was no way to open the door from the inside so he placed his back against the door and dropped to the floor, panting doubting about if he would leave alive from that place. He turned his head to a huge shelf that occupied the entire wall, the books that were there seemed to have come out of the washing machine minutes before he got there, were totally wrinkled and some even dripped, it seemed as if the place had been washed with a hose in a hurry just to be able to lock him inside, he deduced that someone should not have a better place to lock up hostages. Prompto began to feel claustrophobic in that small, damp and cold room, but he tried to calm himself by all means closing his eyes and concentrated on his breathing and he tried to soothe the pain and despair within him a little. When he opened his eyes again much more calmly, they settled on a half-soaked paper that was less than a meter from him, something in that paper became familiar and crawled a little to reach it. He took it and stood near the light that came through the door to be able to read it and he discovered that it was a report on Gladio, there were quite old data that spoke even of his service to King Regis but there was not much more; surprised, Prompto looked again to the floor finding papers that spoke not only of Prince Noctis and his companions but also of activities within the Niflheim Empire's research headquarters. However, the most important thing he found was a series of papers with hundreds of photographs, names and personal datas that, thanks to identifying Ravus among all of them, he knew who had been used for experiments… His eyes stopped at a note that froze his breath:

“Prompto Besithia: Code inserts”

Oh, surprise, He knew it but what was that data doing there? He continued to rummage through papers, and after a while he had to stop, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. I could not believe that everything I just discovered was true:

“How have I not noticed it before? I’m so sorry…” He murmured, hiding his head in his knees.

 

 

Knowing that if she didn’t move she would eventually die, Nivea crawled to the backpack that Prompto had dropped when the Daemon surprised them: Inside she found a small kit of first aid with which she could manage and a jar of pills that appeared to be sedatives, not knowing exactly what they were, she put two in the mouth and swallowed. Leaning against the ledge of a rock, she rummaged through the bag and found a pair of ammunition boxes that fitted the weapon she had borrowed from her rescuer. After a couple of hours - where she remained covered by a pair of blankets - she felt the pain began to recede. _“Prompto…”_ she thought sadly.

During the time that she remained waiting for the effect of the painkillers, she slowly ordered her thoughts, carefully remembering what had happened in the last hours: she had managed to flee her cell in Niflheim thanks to a heart attack or something like that of one of the Imperial guards he carried with her, she hid in an office finding by chance the list of photographs with all those subjected to experiments discovering not only her photo among all the images and also, data that explained how she had never had symptoms of mutation. While the entire investigation base was searching for her, she set about collecting information inside the office, finding two completely identical names that led her to discover the reports of Prince Noctis and his companions. The next thing that happened, she barely remembered it but somehow she had managed to escape without being seen and finally, the cold and the snow took their strength until she woke up in the train carriage to the side to blonde guy. Nivea let out a sigh regretting that she had forgotten everything, could have warned Prompto of everything she knew… Perhaps he didn’t want to go back to Gralea after listening to her because, if Prompto was looking for something in the Empire, it must have been her:

“I have no choice, I have to go back” she said standing up.

The fact of having lived at that base for so long and pretending to be a scary girl gave to Nivea the advantage of being able to enter without being discovered. Thanks to the code that she had shaped above the right wrist could open certain doors without attracting attention and that way was advancing through all the plants for desperately look for Prompto. Finally she reached the top floor, a place she knew quite well because it had been her last hiding place and her way out but to do it again, he needed to find the blond guy: _“Where fuck are you, Prompto?”_ She ran in the direction of a particular door, rolled, and when she stands up, she raised his hand until a whistle gave him the chance to push the door, enter and close it in her wake. She gasped hoping that no camera had captured her; she had waited more than thirty minutes trying to count the seconds that the cameras took to leave as a blind spot the entrance to that office and she believed to have succeeded. Nivea knew that office, she knew what could find there and had decided to go there to find a map that would give her more clues as to where Prompto might be but her blue eyes met face to face with him. He was sitting on the floor leaning his back against the wall in front of the door, he seemed drugged because he had not even moved a muscle when she entered and closed the door behind her:

“Oh my god, are you ok?” she asked him whispering.

The guy seemed to react to her voice; Nivea discovered that he was holding his ribs with the left hand and in the other held all the papers that made up the list of experienced subjects.

“What are you here?” Prompto asked.

His tone was barely a drop of life; it was as if he had decided to die locked between wrinkled papers and data from the past.

“I came for you, asshole”

He drew a sarcastic smile almost without strength.

“How stupid ...” Prompt looked away “If you don’t even know me…”

Nivea advanced to him on all fours and when she was at the distance that wanted she slapped him in the face for to erase that resigned smile:

"No, you are the stupid" she said angry "Do you want to die in a place like this?"

Prompto looked at her, there were no tears in her eyes but the pain that distilled her words was suffocating:

"You've had friends, you had a family ... You should have more courage than someone who has spent her entire life locked up here for find a reason to keep surviving," she reproached him.

“What do you say?” “You read all this, right?” The girl took the papers from his hands “You see my face? Do you see my data? We share the fucking DNA.”

He knew it. Prompto knew that the blond girl who remembered him so much was his sister but he had not wanted to believe it, he had preferred to think that it was all a misunderstanding and that the girl did not carry his blood, was much better than accepting that this girl had been waiting all life for her brother to rescue her and not only that, the worst of all was that she had chosen to escape on her own, tired of waiting for a person who did not even remember her:

“Really… I’m so sorry” He said, looking away again, feeling like the worst person in the world. Nivea watched him too.

"Don’t worry, Prompto, I didn’t know you existed either ... I discovered it here, by chance ..." The silence reigned in the place until the blonde guy decided to break it:

"Thank you for coming for me...."


	3. Escape

A sharp puncture ran down his spine, but Prompto didn't even pay attention: Nivea had thrown herself over him, wrapping his arms around his neck, hugging him. Again, and though he wanted to be reproached for his behavior, someone shake his hand; Prompto remembered when he told a friends that he was a child of the Empire, who cared? They all followed him. And now, in the same place where he had lost Noctis, he found a girl who wanted to share his life with:

“Move your ass” Nivea said separating from him “We need to escape from here”

The girl got to her feet and began to remove the papers from the floor as she lit a small flashlight from Prompto's backpack and lit the books on the shelf, occasionally murmured an inaudible blasphemy each time she found an extremely wet book:

“What are you doing?”

“I'm looking for a map, there must be some of this build here” After a while of intensive search, the girl gave what she was looking for. With all the care that she could spread the plane of the base on the desk and illuminated it “We have two options: to go through the sewers and risk that if they find us we will only have your pistols to defend us ... or go out the front door killing everyone.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Really, Prompto? Well… For the first option, there is a room just below us full of artillery, weapons and ammunition. To reach it ... we would have to break the floor and that silent part precisely isn't it but we would have time to take several weapons and ammunition to take care of the rear."

“And sewers?”

“I went out there the first time but I had not weight and I walked without a brother badly hurt, I do not rule out that there are demons looking for us and more now that surely I should have left some other sign of having entered.”

Prompto stood up hurtled and walked to the desk, looked at the map carefully and bit his lower lip:

“pséee… I hate do this!” The blond buy scratched his head and then looked with his blue eyes on the girl "Do you have my other gun? Do you bring my backpack? And do you really trust me?”

Nivea opened her bulletproof vest, showing her brother's pistol, then she turned around and pointed at the backpack:

“We’re brothers, right? I have to trust in you.”

Prompto drew a half smile on his face and began to tell his sister all the steps he had to follow for that while everyone was focused on her, he could carry out a plan that would destroy the research base. The explosion of the improvised bomb shattered part of the floor of the office leaving only the desk area and the shelf, Nivea threw herself downstairs with the backpack half open and began to put everything in there, from the Smaller weapons and ammunition to small grenades; then she ran toward the door and grabbed a pair of machine guns on the way. The girl opened the door from the inside using the code of her hand and loaded one of the weapons knowing that as soon as she crossed the corner of the corridor she would run into a line of enemies. As she had foreseen, a troop of somewhat gelatinous Imperial humanoids appeared toward her. The powerful sound of the machine gun not only deafened the corridors of the place but also left a trail of destruction in its wake. His brother's instructions had been simple: she had only to leave in less than ten minutes by the main door and get as far as possible to the tundra, sooner or later they would find again if everything went well in the wagon of the abandoned train at the boundary of the frontier. Nivea wished with all her might that Prompto was not to play kamikaze to become the hero, she had trusted him and hoped he would not turn her back on him like that. Just as she jumped the steps on the second floor a Daemon cut her off, without thinking, the girl turned and released the submachine gun without even caring that it had ammunition inside, for to escape of the enemy had to lighten weight and not lose time. She tried to find another ladder but all the attempts she had made to fool the monster were in vain even going down a dead-end path. When trying to turn around and continue to flee, she ran into the enemy cutting off any chance of escape but just behind the Daemon, she discovered a window that led to the outside of the building, Nivea could see the spotlights that would locate it outside but at least if all that It would explode, the rubble would not fall on top of her, although the only problem that she had it was that she would have to jump the central hole that was in the plant... She had no options; she had to leave there at all costs. She kept alert, breathing, to find the right moment for to run.

“Now!” Shouted to herself just as the Daemon lifted his arm to crush her.

The girl rolled under him dodging the slap and she ran at full speed calculating if she would be able to reach the other side, Nivea was not sure but by the time she wanted to repent was already climbing To the railing and jumping from one end to the other. Her abdomen bumped on the other balustrade, causing her a severe pain in the ribs, she still had to jump out but she did not count that the forces would fail her in the moment of pushing herself to finally reach the window by which she intended to go outside. She looked behind and saw how the enemy imitated her and the girl knew with certainty that with that speed he would crush her against the railing, surely would break the floor and fall to the void. She closed an eye weighing the idea of letting go when suddenly a blond guy appeared before her, raised a pistol and fired. The impact was such that it stopped the momentum of the Daemon and it, fell two floors below:

“NICE, PROMPTO!” Nivea shouted at him.

“He,he” He laughed as he ran to help the girl.

“Wait… what are you doing here?” Before Prompto responded, Nivea threw down her hand to grab the weapon she had on Prompto's waist and fired into the chest of a new enemy appeared in the corner.

“I can say you the same” The blond guy introduced his hand into the half-open backpack Nivea carried and took out his other pistol, then raised both and threw a string of bullets that hit another officer who pointed them from a up floor “You should already have walked out the door”

“Now I think the window is more attractive” Prompto looked to where his sister was nodding, looked at her and smiled:

“Why do you think as me?” And without further ado, they both ran.

The first batch of explosives that Prompto had placed in the building exploded just as they were both coming out the window offering them an extra boost in their leap. Adrenaline flooded their bodies and Prompto, closed his eyes after knowing that they would fall into a pile of shrubs filled with snow and let out a liberating cry. The impact on the ground was painful though not mortal, Nivea felt as part of his body fell over his brother's body, they let out a few moans when they got up and resumed their escape, in the middle of the night they went into the tundra and ran separated as fast as their bodies allowed. They had barely ran a few yards when a new explosion much larger than the first one collapsed more than half of the investigation's base. Nivea listened in the darkness as her brother hummed a song in a sign of victory and she dedicated him, wherever he was, a half smile. Even with the dark sky, Nivea reached to the train wagon. At first she was relieved to be in a known place that was not that build but the feeling of comfort not disappeared when she perceived that Prompto was not there, the girl knew that the danger had not gone at all because even, on the frontier of the empire the sound of alert in Gralea would were heard from there. Nivea dropped the bag on the floor of the wagon and completely overturned it, she cursed the moment when his brother had taken the other pistol but still she had a pair of grenades and extra ammunition for the second machine gun still carrying her shoulder. Luckily for her, just out of the door of the wagon a body was interposed between her and the outside making her let out a scream while she slipped but thanks to a very quick reflexes the person who had been in the middle also prevented it from falling to the ground:

“Nice, Prompto” She said, recognizing those blue eyes surrounded by freckles.

 

 

A week had passed since Cindy saw Prompto leave HammerHead, during that time she had wondered where that boy was headed – that well ... of boy he had little but that youthful face did not make her think of him as the man who was – and she was waiting for him to appear again. That evening, the moment that was waiting the mechanics happened and the blonde head of Prompto looked out of the garage door. She ran to meet him but was a bit confused when she saw behind his a girl, also blonde, who looked her up and down as soon as she saw her appear:

“It’s good seeing you again, Chocobo” Cindy said him shyly.

“That mean are you missed me every night?” for those answer, Cindy supposed that the new friend of Prompto was not a lover and of course she discarded it when the girl rolled her eyes and walked away shaking her head as if she were ashamed of the scene she was witnessing.

“Who is?” she asked him.

“Nivea”

Cindy noticed a couple of things she did not want to say aloud: the first was that it was the first time that Prompto seemed so sure of himself and that his gaze returned to light after the loss of Noctis; And the second, was the extreme similar of the new girl had with him, the mechanic had no doubt that they were family and that she surely knew why Prompto had begun his travel.

“Do you both have place for sleep this night?”

“Yes, Nivea loves sleep under the stars”

“Oh… I see…” The blond guy looked at Cindy with a playful smile, came up to her and grabbed her by the waist:

“But we can play in your caravan while she investigates the place, right?”

“It’s ok; a week is a long time waiting to ride back my chocobo.”

From the window of the bar, Nivea looked how Prompto and her blonde-lover got into the caravan. She supposed it would take her a while to get out of there, so that as she was the one carrying her brother's backpack, she fumbled inside until she located her purse and ordered a plate of each variety inside the bar knowing that the next day her brother would cry for it. She smiled to herself knowing the evil she had just done but while she was eating, she thought that was free now, she knew the meaning of the word but had never experienced what it was. Nivea looked at the food feeling that it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted - and the girl considered the canned food a delicacy - so he enjoyed the food and saved a little for his brother, she paid without knowing very well what had been the expense and she returned again towards the camp.

Prompto arrived after a while, he met his sister by the fire with his eyes lost in the huge starry sky and until he did not sit next to her, the girl did not feel that he was there:

“Are you happy now?” she asked him mischievously.

“Eh? W-What?” Prompto exclaimed turning red “I… I don’t know that do you mean… I didn’t nothing!”

Nivea let out a chuckling laugh, shook her head and punched his brother in the arm:

“I know what happen when two people go together to the bed”

“I’m sure that yes” Prompto laughed, but suddenly he was blocked.

He was replied without thinking it but realized that, in theory, Nivea had never left the investigation base of the Empire how to have done something like that. However, Nivea showed no sign of being hurt but if she realized that something had left her brother worried and had become serious and somber.

“What happen?”

“Well... I'm not sure that you really know it” Nivea scratched her head realizing that it was her turn to explain.

Her face turned sad and she wondered if it was a good idea to tell Prompto the truth.

“I know what happen but I’m sure that not with the same feeling that you” The guy looked at the girl narrowing his eyes; he was beginning to think certain things he was not sure he wanted to know.

“There are many ways to do it…”

“Nivea, what…” Prompto wanted to interrupt but then the girl let go of the phrase that lit the wick of hatred.

“… I supose Ardyn didn't made it with love”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!” Nivea was startled; it was the first time that saw Prompto so extremely angry:

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked.

“What did that fuck bastard do to you?!”

The girl turned her gaze to the ground without wanting to remember anything she had suffered in the investigation base but she had the instinct to respond perhaps because in the past if you didn't answered front an officer automatically you received a strong blow.

“Sometimes was with me... and other times with other experiments.” she murmured.

Prompto felt hatred invade him from the depths of his being not only for to have heard the name of Ardyn after so long time but because he had dared to lay a hand on Nivea:

“I can’t believe it… did you like him?" Nivea got up grabbing her brother by the collar of his T-shirt, when they were both standing after a struggle, she pushed him until they stumbled and fell to the ground:

“If you don't want I to kill you, never say that again, Prompto” She threatened him and grab the pistol she had in her jacket and place it on the blonde guy's forehead “You can't imagine all things I passed in that place... If you want to live, please, forget our conversation of that night.”

Despite the darkness of the night and their backwards to the campfire, Prompto was able to distinguish a wild tear that tried to escape without success from the girl's gaze. He didn't know if it was out of anger, or because she felt hurt by his words or for threatened him in that way, but he had no choice but to look away and apologize:

“I’m so sorry, Nivea… Please, calm down and put that away from me” Nivea obeyed, turned away from him and sat down again near the fire.

She buried her face between her legs and when Prompto sat down beside her, he noticed her as tremble.

“I hated the contact with Ardyn” she said while tears fell from her blue eyes “but... I couldn't to do anything; if you denied something there you would only receive blows and blows. Was it wrong to keep quiet for to survive one more day?”

Prompto didn’t say anything, really for as much as it hurt; it wasn't the girl's fault but Ardyn and all the officers of the Empire. He hoped with all his might that Noctis had returned all the suffering he had caused to more than half the world.

“Was Sibi who said me that... do it... would be good if you do it with someone who love you”

“Who is Sibi?”

“Really do you want to know it?” Neither of the two brothers ever knew it but both at that moment doubted whether to continue that conversation, however… Prompto thought that if his sister was sincere with him he should listen to her and make her see that all was left in the past; and Nivea felt that she had spent all her life leaving all her emotions inside her because there was nobody to his side to share them so that, unknowingly, they both resumed the conversation a little more calm:

“Yes, I want” Prompto said.

“We lived in isolation cells because of the experiments; in a corner of my cell there was a break where I could see a tiny part of the person next cell. I could never see the face or who was, but we could whisper something every night anything and in the end, the loose words became a conversation that we liked continue with. Little by little, I got to know Sibi, I don't know if I was a boy or a girl because every time it experimented It had a different voice but then It was able to continue the previous talk and could knew things about myself that no other patient knew. Although, I want to think Sibi was a women, for the voice, for the words…” Nivea paused for a moment trying not to cry again “The first time Ardyn come to my cell was a surprise... And of course, I didn't know what he wants to do with me. I only remember pain, so much pain in my body."

Prompto clenched his fists, wanting with all his might to pay no attention to what had happened to his sister in that place, he clenched his jaw but tried by all means not to be altered while his sister continued with her story:

“Sibi told me what Ardyn's visit has been about and that it was normal for humans, with her... He did it too, but it must have been worse than I because every time they did it with Sibi, she screamed a lot, Ardyn was very scared me but I always believed that sex was just another type of experiment. After a few years, Sibi stopped screaming of pain, I think Sibi was willing to die… She told me that sex with love didn't hurt or make you feel bad, it only happened when both people wanted to do it. I understand what type of people has sex; you need a special feel, not like you and me... It's everyone say it's _love_... Well, I love you but I not feel I want to have sex with you, you understand me? sorry, I don't know how to explain it”

“Don't worry, I understand you... Holy shit, why are you so innocent? Why are you so cute?” Prompto said. He loved how Nivea tried to explain something so horrible in such a gentle way. "Well, let's forget this... I want to ask you other thing: You waited for me ever?” suddenly Prompto asked her.

“I discovered I had a brother in the office just before to escape, you know "brothers" if we can call ourselves that so” Nivea looked into his eyes and then smiled with a bit of bitterness. When she discovered that info she knew the meaning of what it meant to be a family but she wasn't sure how to act if she will meet with the guy with she share DNA.

“What know about me?”

“A little bit... your name, your number code, your DNA... I remember that at that moment I don’t know if I was happy or not to have a person to say "brother", I just remember that discovering that gave me courage to get out of there.”

“What happened with Sibi? Was in its cell when you escape?”

“I think... Sibi died three years ago. Simply, one day not returned back to the cell. I don't know if she becomes a monster or she died between experiments, I prefer to think she gone away without pain. Maybe I never had another person to other side of cell, maybe Sibi was a inner voice in my head but... I'm sure Sibi saved my life”

After a short silence, Prompto put his arm around Nivea's shoulders and hugged her as they watched the fire.

“Now I’m with you, sister. We always be together”


	4. Interest in the afterlife

At the morning, Nivea realized that Prompto had picked it all up and left, leaving only the backpack beside her head and a note saying that he had gone to breakfast without her. At first she didn’t understand anything neither why she was alone nor why his brother had left without saying anything, but little by little, as she was clearing, the rage took over his being:

“Asshole” said as she put away the blanket “I will to break his face when I sees him, leave me here alone... and without warning, what the hell has in that brain? I'm going to leave him with no money to eat; he'll have to cook him by himself next time”

Grumpily, she went down the hill and went to Cindy's garage, hoping to find him there, and if not ... she would knock desperately the door of the caravan.

"Sex, I hate it"

The closer she got to Hammerhead, she began to be furious more and more but suddenly, a scene lowered all her anger against Prompto and made her change of objective: She was barely entering the bar area when she saw in the distance how a well-muscled man would take his brother by the collar of his T-shirt and lift it a little off the ground. Without thinking twice, the girl released his pack, opened his vest, and pulled the pistol with which he had pointed to Prompto the night before. When she was only a few meters from his target, she discovered that the man who dealt with Prompto was almost two heads taller but she did not care; as quickly as the lightning, Nivea grabbed him by the hair forcing him to throw his head back and she nailed the barrel of her weapon on the nape of her enemy:

“Release him if you do not want me to have to clean blood from here to the end of the garage” she said slowly.

“Wait, wait, Nivea. Keep calm, I know him, he's Gladio” Prompto explained to her a little nervous.

Still doubtful, the girl slowly withdrew the pistol from the man's head and when Gladio felt free of threat, turned around:

“Who the hell is she?” he said looking to Prompto again.

“Speak with a kinder tone, my friend, I haven't wake up very happy” Nivea answered putting herself between both “He’s my brother, what’s your problem?”

Gladio blinked in amazement at what was happening but knew that it wasn't a joke not only because of the resemblance of the girl who looked at him with psychopathic murderer eyes with Prompto but because his friend's expression indicated that he was totally serious:

“Ok, my lady... Prompto, can we speak as civilized people?”

“I don’t want to do it”

“Oh man, fuck you. Only we can to do it.”

“Sorry, Gladio, I’m tired to hear you, this time not count with me.”

Whatever it was, Prompto didn't want about to give in to what his old friend was asking for, so he slipped his arm over Nivea's shoulders and turned his back on Gladio; he started walking to search for the backpack his sister had Thrown near the bar:

“Come on, Prompto… It's the only way to bring back to Noctis.”

The blond guy stopped dead. Nivea looked at him and saw his eyes closing; those words have hit the target. She cursed Gladio but did not say or do anything when her brother turned around again and fixed his blue eyes on his former friend:

“Don't play with my feelings, Gladio”

“Listen to me” Gladio advanced to him and put himself to Prompto's height again “A few days ago thanks to a group of crazies who gone to destroy a base in Gralea has been dismantled a network that tries to expand again the virus of the demons taking advantage of that there is nobody left in the Glaives of Lucis to avoid it.”

“And what does Noct have to do with this?”

“I can't explain all here, only I want you come with me, only we can resolve this whole thing ourselves.” Prompto duded it.

"Nivea will come with me too". Gladio let out a sigh and turned, holding back the urge to tear out the head of stupid boy who seemed to have learned overnight to face people:

“Don’t give me more problems, Prompto.”

“If I join with you and the group, it will be with her. You decide, Gladio.”

“Since when have you become a cocky?” Prompto said nothing but his gaze was more than enough to imply that he would not move from Hammerhead without Nivea “Okay, do what you want but then do not regret or cry if something happens, you know what we're up against, if your fucking selfishness does not let you see beyond your noses it's your problem and your sister, from now it's just your problem”

They traveled most of the way in silence; Gladio had arrived in Hammerhead in a van looking for Prompto since he was the only one of the three who had not received the news of the destruction of Gralea's base:

“Really didn’t you know that?” Gladio asked giving him a newspaper where the semi-destroyed base appeared on the front page.

“I knew it, I was the guilty of attack.”

The van stopped short in the middle of the road with the luck that no other vehicle was behind them. Gladio looked at his friend without credit for what he had just heard:

“What the hell happens in your head, Prompto?” he exclaimed “You destroyed a build, you become a cocky with me, appears a sister in your life… many things for only two years.”

Prompto didn’t answered, he leaned back against his seat and continued looking at the road and the horizon until his friend decided to put the van back on track to continue the travel. Nivea had witnessed the scene from her seat; she was looking out the window when everything started and everything caught her a little by surprise; however when a few minutes had passed since Gladio put the vehicle back on track she decided to add an explanation:

“I was a hostage in that investigation base. I escaped and Prompto found me. The people who looked for me preferred to take it to him and I had no choice but to return to help him… for we could to escape, Prompto used explosives for destroyed all. Also, I think Prompto isn't a cocky with you without reason, your voice sound more arrogant that him. And finally... was a coincidence that a sister like me appeared in Prompto's life.” Nivea knew that Gladio had heard everything and that she had been aware of the touch of rage she had decided to put into her speech.

After checking that the driver would not respond her, the girl imitated his brother, adjusting himself in his seat of the van looking sideways as his brother smiled satisfied. The Nivea's words were the only conversation that had inside to the van in all travel. At dusk, Gladio make the car change the direction in the middle of a road and the trot of the car woke the girl from her nap, hiding her discomfort for waking up that way, she searched in the backpack something to eat that her brother would not have eaten but to her surprise, she found everything she had saved the night before:

“Haven't you eaten anything yet?” she asked him grumpy.

“I thought was yours” His brother answered a little indignantly. Nivea said nothing at first but then she asked him again:

“I saved it for you yesterday, do you want it or not?” Prompto smiled to her and nodded slightly, just as he grabbed what the girl was providing, Gladio's stomach roared: “I have food for you too, Mister Angry”

But Gladio said nothing, so that ... he was left without food while the two Argentum devoured the delicious food of the Hammerhead bar. After a while, the van stopped and everyone went down to dry land, vegetation was plentiful but a few meters later a wooden house where two people were waiting for them sitting on the porch:

“I thought you both would arrive later” said the clear and feature Ignis's voice.

“He, He, I hope you have a delicious dinner for me” Prompto smiled to him.

“Come in home and look.”

The blonde guy entered without hesitating inside the house completely ignoring the other person who was next to Ignis, Nivea stood on the porch looking at the scars that that person had in the eyes, under the glasses, wondering how it had been Able to see them from so far away. While attempting to supose a hypothesis, Gladio passed beside her and gave him a small push:

“Asshole” she said walking behind him.

“Oh… Has a guest come?” Ignis asked.

Nivea realized that the man with bangs combed up and sunglasses did not really see anything and a strange feeling of pity squeezed her chest:

“I’m sorry, my name is Nivea, I’m Prompto’s little sister” she said with intent to look for Ignis's hand but the man was swift and raised it by himself reaching hers in the air.

“Nice to meet you, pretty lady. I’m Ignis and this guy is Libertus.”

The companion was a stubby man, with round face and wide nose with the hair hairstyle back, limped a little but also extended the hand to the girl. Before saying anything else, Prompto's voice was heard from inside the house admiring the food that awaited everyone at the table. Nivea drew a half smile and looked back at Ignis:

“Are you the chef?” she asked looking to Libertus.

“Me? Really?” he smiled “No, pretty lady, the best chef in the world is Ignis”

Nivea had never eaten a thing like that, and although everyone - except Gladio - struggled to tell her how each dish was called, she ignored them and valued the last lump of sauce without stopping expressing in a thousand different ways the good and delicious what was everything. Ignis was smiling from ear to ear, maybe because no one had been so grateful for dinner for a long time, and listened intently to the whole story that the girl and Prompt told him about how they had destroyed more than half of the base in the capital Empire. At the end of that, Ignis stood up and approached Nivea, running his fingertips all over the girl's face, examining her and stopping at every detail of her face:

“It's awesome, you both are extremely similar”

“She has freckles and blue eyes too” Libertus added “I'm sure that you could have knowing they are brothers the first time you see them”

“Sure but this it’s a big surprise for me, If I had the slightest suspicion that Prompto had a sister in Gralea, we would not have stopped until I found her”

Ignis had been the first person to say something like that, not even Prompto had been able to express in this way something so simple. Nivea felt herself blush, those words sounded warm and close, something she had not experienced in her life and join to the softness of Ignis's hands were a cluster of things that created a lump in her throat. She unwittingly drew a smile that was only noticed by his brother:

“I guess you'll want to know what we're doing here, right, Prompto?” Ignis said to the blonde guy.

“Gladio didn't say me nothing.”

“Oh, really, cocky?” Gladio intervened from a corner without looking at his friend.

“Have you quarreled again?”

“Leave it, Ignis, I had enough to put up with Noct's attitude, do not give it more importance and talk. What's the plan?” Gladio said.

“You have to eliminate all the monsters that remain and eradicate the virus” explained Libertus “That is easy to say but allow you to doubt it, the demons that remain in Gralea and who intend to expand by what remains of the Empire and the world do not die with as much ease. They are able to explode and lose consciousness but then, they seem to regain and unite, becoming invincible.”

“And how we killing them?” Ignis inclined his head, as if this interruption of Gladio had bothered him:

“You have to attack them with the crystal's power of Lucis and was Ignis who he's realized it thanks to find one weapon.”

At that moment, Ignis got up and placed daggers on the table in the center of the cabin. Everyone came to see them clearly and discovered that the handles of both arms seemed to glisten a tiny strip of blue light.

“These daggers belonged to a great friend of mine who sacrificed for Lucis, placed the royal ring and managed to make a pact with the Gods of the Past thus obtaining the ability to control over a period of time the power offered by the crystal. I deduce that ... part of that power was left inside the daggers. When Ignis and I visited Gralea a few days ago, we were attacked by the demons of the place and only those who were attacked by the daggers ... were completely disintegrated.”

“And your plan is make a pact with the Gods of the Past?” asked Nivea. Libertus nodded.

“Wait a moment, guys, we have a problem” Gladio said “You said that your friend contacted the gods using the king's power ring, which I'm sure, Noct took with him.”

“In that ... you are wrong. Your prince has been a disaster all his life and his farewell to the world isn’t far removed from reality.”

Ignis placed a small chest on the table and opened it gently revealing a beautiful black ring with a small diamond glittering between red velvet:

“Where found you it?”

“Into the throne room where surely... Prince Noctis disappeared. I do not know why he left this behind but I would recognize that ring anywhere, and it is real.”

“And what is there to do? Put it on?” Nivea wanted to know.

“Yes, but I want to warn you of one thing” Libertus’s voice became somber “Who makes the covenant with the gods ... will disappear forever when the favor has been fulfilled.”

Silence invaded the room. Nivea began to feel her heart beating fast, really had they spoken of disappearing? Of ceasing to exist?

“I don’t understand it” finally Prompto said.

“If anyone who wears this ring asks the gods to return Noctis to help us use the power of crystal to defeat the monsters and eradicate the virus ... When the last monster disappears, Noctis and whoever asked for the favor, they will disappear forever” Libertus clarified a little, tired of repeating everything.

“You won’t count with me” Prompto replied, taking a step back.

“What the hell do you mean?” Gladio asked again so furious.

“I don't want to do it. First because ... one of us has to wear that ring knowing that when it does will cease to exist, and secondly, we are only going to bring Noct for how long... a week? A month? Are we going to bring him back so disappears again? I’m sorry but definitely no.”

Enduring the urge to cry, Prompto left the house slamming the door and just when everything was silent again, Gladio hit the table brutally:

“I swear I'm going to kill him… HE'S FUCKING ME SINCE I FOUND HIM IN HAMMERHEAD! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM?!”

Nivea ignored Gladio and without attract too much attention she came out of the house looking for her brother, found him in the darkness a few meters from the truck that had transported them, hitting a tree. “Keep calm, Prompto.” She said him. After, Nivea saw in Prompto’s knuckles rest of blood:

“Are you asshole?”

“I will not stand it again... I can't”

“What, Prompto?”

“I couldn't bear to lose Noctis again… I couldn't bear to see him here again as if nothing had happened while I know that not only he will leaving us again but also I'm going to lose another important person in my life, Nivea… Stop fucking me! I will not participate in this; do you want to know why? Because this isn't We are... This is C'mon Prompto, it's your turn" Finally, the blond guy dropped to his knees on the floor, dejected:

“Wait… Are you going to use the ring?” Nivea said. 

“Am I not the only one left? Do you think Gladio is going to use the ring and leave Iris behind? He's just going to put the sword. Ignis has lost his sight for Noct and Libertus covers his back for to know what the hell is going on. I'm just the idiot who has nothing to lose.”

“Now you’re not alone, Prompto… You've got me!”

For the first time Nivea was truly afraid. She knew that if Prompto continued to speak in that way, the tears would to escape from her eyes for fear of losing him.

“Gladio was right; I should not have brought you.” Prompto said looking her sister from top to bottom.

“And would you have left me alone?”

Silence ran through the scene, silencing even the hearts of both brothers and that was a hard blow to the girl, she knew that the silence of her brother confirmed that he would have left her alone in Hammerhead and that she would also have known after he would disappear forever. Anguish overwhelmed her, the pain began to suffocate her and the tears took advantage of the opportunity to leave her eyes:

“Sorry, Nivea…”

“Really would you have left me alone?”

“You need to live for all years that you were locked up...”

“Fuck you, Prompto…”

Any other attack with a weapon would have been more painful than hearing those direct words from someone as innocent as Nivea, the girl's eyes looked like a sea in the middle of a storm, in the blue color of her pupils moved sparks with fury and yet the sound of Nivea's broken heart echoed in the depths of his being. Wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt, the girl turned in the direction of the cabin, she was not going to let anyone give his life for her, much less if it was Prompto, but to defend that idea she had no choice but to be the one to sacrifice herself for bringing Prince Noctis back. Prompto was right: Gladio had a family, Ignis had given his sight for Lucis and well, Libertus ... Nivea was sure who truly had nothing left to lose was her. She ran until she entered the house listening to Prompto behind her, and without anyone being able to do anything to stop her, the girl grabbed the chest and weared the ring:

“NIVEA, DON’T DO IT!” Prompto shouted entering the door just as a blinding flash flooded the room.


	5. Pacts

When Nivea opened her eyes, she was found herself in the middle of a violet sky floating among millions of stars. The finger felt burning where she had the ring and a stony mark seemed to extend over her arm, it was then that she realized the gravity of what she had just done and an excruciating fear of not knowing what would happen next ran down her spine camouflaged in a chill; she didn't know how to speak to the Gods or if she had to do something special... Would the Gods accept resurrecting King Noctis to help a few mortals? Out as it were, a guttural voice took her out of her concern:  
  
"What kind of ring permit a plebeian visit us a second time?"  
  
The girl turned around realizing that her movements were extremely slow, behind her she discovered how a huge figure created by stars and constellations bright spoke to him from the deepest of nothingness; that voice entered in her mind, intimidating her: it was an enormous being that distilled strength and power from all sides ... how could she pact with something like that? Damn it, it was a god and she was only a human ... if she could afford to call herself that.  
  
"It smells of Niflheim" another voice said "Could be a henchman of Ardyn?"  
  
Nivea turned again in the direction of the new sound, in her eyes could be seen the terror of being before a second god so great and imposing how the first, she swallowed saliva while she died of fear at hearing the words Niflheim and Ardyn, nothing of it seemed to please the gods of Eos.  
  
"Please, not say nonsense" said a female voice that sounded much more deadly than the rest of the deities "Even the smallest of its body cells is tremble with fear"  
  
The new figure, rather smaller than the others, approached to Nivea. This creature wasn't feeling intimidating but rather conveyed serenity and understanding, it had no face or just form but the blonde girl was able to perceive that before that be a God was a creature of great beauty.In front of that god-or goddess-she felt more confident and in a trembling voice and all in a whisper, Nivea gave way to talk:  
  
"I'm here to ask you to help me. The monsters that Ardyn created haven't yet disappeared from the world and are now only capable of dying thanks to the power of Lucis crystal. I need your help, we have to eradicate the virus of our world now that the main enemy isn't here"  
  
The silence was sepulchral but Nivea clung with all her strength to that kind creature that relaxed her, she fixed her blue eyes in the hollow of its constellations believing that somehow, she looked in her eyes:  
  
"Please..."  
  
The star-shaped figure nodded, even blinking. Nivea could not explain how she had known, but that being had responded from her soul:  
  
"We'll help you, but you must to know the price of your petition"  
  
"I know it! and ... and I accept it but I need something more ..." said Nivea startled but her voice broke and felt like all the power of the cosmos was placed on her heart  "I need to the king Noctis ... I need that he returns with me."  
  
The figures who had intervened in the conversation before, and others who had been forging while the girl spoke, seemed to look at each other astonished at the last detail. Nivea watched as a new creature as small as the one with the female voice began to form before her, creating new shooting stars until her silhouette was solid:  
  
"Why King Noctis?" it whispered.  
  
"I'll sacrifice myself in exchange for him to help them, they need him ... my brother needs him, I know he can not stand to be alone again."  
  
"Who's you brother?"  
  
"Who is?" Nivea wondered to herself realizing her that this question involved more than she believed "why? ...  seriously he's my brother? I know him since weeks ago ... why ... why don't I want to see him alone?"  
  
"Who's your brother?"  
  
"Does matters!? Stop making me believe that you care about his identity ... I only know that ... he'll not survive if I return without the king ..."  
  
Nivea couldn't bear all this pressure and she felt how slowly the forces were abandoning her without yet knowing if the Gods were willing to help her restore Lucis with the help of Noctis but she couldn't afford to return empty handed, she tried had to endure even if little soon, her eyes were closing:  
  
"Please... give me King Noctis..."  
  
"Who's your brother?"  
  
She wanted to hit that figure, from the bottom of her heart she wanted do it but the tension and pain made her completely lose consciousness while in her mind a slight and inaudible whisper rang out ...  
  
"Prompto..."

 

* * *

  
When Nivea tried to open her eyes, she knew that a strong arms were carrying her up a flight of stairs, the smell of that person was not unpleasant or bothering her at all, in fact, she knew that it was Prompto who carried her, she could feel it, she could hear the beating of his heart and she despite trying to stay awake or talk, she didn't had the strength or the way to stay awake any longer.

 

* * *

  
  
Hours later, the sunlight was softly awoke her, a refreshing breeze made her feel as if she were coming back to life, as if she were coming back from her own ashes; she blinking several times until she felt completely awake and sat up a little on the huge, soft mattress in the who slept. She was in a small but cozy room where the light from the outside entered through a large window, the door was ajar and through it came a scent that made her mouth water and with that, she knew she was completely awake.  
Food. And not any kind of food but one cooked by Ignis, a great awakening. When she wanted to move she discovered that at the foot of the bed was his brother with half body leaning on the mattress and the other half sitting on a chair:  
  
"Ey, Prompto" she said while she while shaking him "It's time to breakfast"  
  
The blonde woke up a little disoriented and then, jumped up:  
  
"NIVEA! Are you ok?" he wanted to know by touching her face, hair, and arms.  
  
"Holy shit, yes!" she said as he walked away "I'm hungry, let's go to breakfast, please"  
  
"But, tell me, what happened? Will you disappear for bringing back us to Noct?"  
  
Prompto's eyes revealed that he had been crying, they were swollen and worried, and it was when that Nivea remembered that she had spoken to the gods, that she had begged for the king to stay with them.  
  
"Mmm... I... I talked with them... Is the king here? Here in home?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, he was by your side when the light faded."  
  
Prompto looked at her blankly during a second but before she could ask him any more questions, Nivea ran downstairs. When the girl came into the room, she could not contain a cry of ecstasy as she saw Ignis's meal on the table and threw herself without thinking about toast:  
  
"Eh... Good morning, lady?" Ignis smiled.  
  
"I'm sorry... I'm so hungry..."  
  
"Yes, we see it. " A new voice said.  
  
Nivea realized that next to Gladio there was another man she had never seen before: dark and smooth-haired, maybe about the same age as her brother, and wearing a black shirt. He was attractive, too with and bewitching and blue eyes on his face:  
  
"Are you King Noctis?"  
  
"Sure, Noct for my friends. Are you my friend?" he said raising an eyebrow.  
  
Anyone said nothing. Only the Prompto's voice sound in the room while Nivea and Noctis stared at each other.  
  
"Will you disappear when it's all over?"  
  
"No" the girl said with determination, hoping the king would let her fool them all.  
  
While she tried to get out of her brother's many hugs she gave Noctis a look and although her signal was not noticed by anyone except the king, the girl made it clear that she would not tell her brother the truth until the reality took will caught them. Nivea didn't know it, but everyone there wished that she was right because they had witnessed the panic attack that Prompto had experienced while her sister was lost in the immensity of the universe.  


* * *

  
  
The team decided to return to the capital of the Empire using the same way had taken years ago recalling every insignificant detail. At first, the guys tried to get information from Noctis about the afterlife but the king claimed that he didn't remember anything and that he felt that he had fallen asleep on the throne and then woke up in that cabin. However, both he and Nivea knew that none of this was true, the girl was always looking at him from the distance, that man intimidated her for some reason and although they haven't a confrontation, Noctis didn't quite trust her.  
All together they returned to dinner under the mantle of stars and watch the sunrise while training; Cindy received them with watery eyes as they passed for Hammerhead and on the trip there was an activity that make Nivea felt in love: **Chocobos races**.  
  
"Now I understand why Cindy loves ride Chocobos" she said the day that they decided to rent one of those huge birds to run across the broad plains of Duscae "They're so beautiful"  
  
All the guys looked at Prompto with a mischievous smile - including Ignis chuckled softly - seeing that the blond's sister was worthy of his family.  
  
"Yes ... sure to be _penetrating_ " Gladio said.  
  
Prompto blushed with shame, grateful that his sister didn't understand that kind of comment about his relationship to mechanics. Unsurprisingly, Nivea fell in love with the birds and loved to scrub her face with the neck and feathers whenever she could; she loved do with her brother races and they shared too the passion for take selfies when the girl bought a small camera halfway.  
  
"Really they're brothers, both do the same stupid things" Gladio murmured to Ignis.  
  
"I know it, both smell same. I wouldn't know how to differentiate them if Nivea wouldn't speak. I don't like how it going to finish all this"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Do you really think she will not disappear? What do you really think she has been able to pacts with the gods?"  
  
"I don't want... I don't think she's fooling Prompto like that way."  
  
Ignis said nothing more and finish cooking under the worried look of his friend.  
At dinner, Gladio didn't look away from Nivea. The girl and her brother planned combos during hours for know how to attack the enemies in unison, when both fought coordinating between them, the battle not only became more fun but also more radical and above all ... more scandalous. And maybe that's why Gladio didn't want to believe that all that happiness was a fake.

 

* * *

  
  
As the days went by, the time finally came when the snow and the cold covered the way the group walked, indicating that in a few days they would reach the capital of Niflheim, the more time they spent together, the love feeling between the brothers became greater, and even Noctis had begun to become fond of the girl, and this, completely disconcerted Gladio that was still thinking about Ignis's words about the girl's attitude. When the snow made impossible the advance in truck, the group began its way on foot:  
  
"I wish I had a chocobo so I could warm up," Nivea protested, looking as the snow slowed her advance.  
  
"Yes..." Gladio answered her "Cindy really likes chocobos for to get hot, right, Prompto?"  
  
"Shup up"  
  
"I get the impression that there is something on this subject that you don't want to explain to me," Nivea grumbled, glancing at Gladio. "Why do you laugh whenever I mention the Chocobos?"  
  
"Your brother can explain you, he's the Chocobo in our group"  
  
"Shup. Up. Gladio"  
  
"Oh, c'mon Prompto" Gladio laughed "I'm sure Nivea had sex with anyon..."  
  
Before anyone could do anything and without warning, Prompto rushed on Gladio and punching him in the face with such force that he threw him to the floor, bursting his lip. They had to stop it between Noctis and Nivea so that he did not return to hit the major of them again since it tried to give him a kick in the face:  
  
"What the fuck is wrong with you ?!" Gladio said, getting to his feet.  
  
"DON'T YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"  
  
"Calm down, Prompto, let him alone, I don't care!" Nivea said understanding everything by the end.  
  
However Prompto didn't calm down, he had remembered all the conversation with Nivea where she had him confessed that Ardyn had forced her on the base of investigation and to see Gladio treated that subject with that coldness... he felt himself completely uncontrolled. In one of her many attempts to get away from Noctis and Nivea, he managed to push her sister so badly that she slipped and fell down one of the snowy hills. At first, the girl dropped down thinking that her brother would stop fighting and would come to scold her when she stopped, but when she wanted to realize, she crashed against a rock and turned the course realizing that she would fall on a cliff of ten or fifteen meters.  She tried to hold on to the snow but it didn't work, and her body rolled so fast that it was impossible to know where she was. Her only alternative was to shout the name of Prompto just when she saw the emptiness open before her; Nivea closed her eyes knowing that she would die if she touched the ground, but  also thought that in this way, Prompto would suffer less than when he found out that she had lied to him. Suddenly, one hand held hers and the fall stopped, the girl looked up and found that Gladio had saved her from certain death ... or so she thought, because just when she was going to thank him for it clutching her, the rock where the man was grabbed fall with them.  
Both fell into the void again but luckily, the fall wasn't as painful as Nivea expected. The girl looked up to discover that they wouldn't have a way to climb without had a rope, they had fallen into a kind of protrusion that didn't have many alternatives to move but at least it seemed a solid place to wait for help. Nivea moved Gladio hoping he wouldn't be unconscious over the snow, she tried to awoke up him with a few blows to the face. It gave result and after a while they heard Ignis's voice and agreed that it was almost sunset time, the next morning they would find a way to get them up. Everyone agreed that it was the best decision since Nivea, carrying a backpack with blankets and food to spend the night and Gladio - digging a little under the snow - found a gap between the rocks where they could spend the night sheltered from the cold.  
  
"Thank you for save me" Nivea said him after had eaten.  
  
"Don't worry, girl... I suppose I have developed that ability by to have a sister who need to be protecting whenever I can ... Sure that Prompto will already be developing it soon"  
  
"I want to ask you a favor ..." whispered the girl. He waited in silence. "I don't want you to be separated from Prompto never again..."  
  
"So, everything was a lie, right? You will disappear when everything it's over."  
  
Nivea nodded with sad.  
  
"It doesn't seem fair to me, you know?" Gladio's voice sounded for the first time full of concern. "Prompto may be a silly and very freaky, but your brother doesn't deserve what you're doing to him.You don't know what he will suffer in the end."  
  
"He has lived all his life without me, until almost a month ago he didn't even know that I existed ... However, after I having seen him all this time I'm happy for choosing this, Prompto is happiest with Noctis than with me."  
  
"You don't know what you're saying, Nivea, I saw Prompto criying and criying for believe that he would lose you. I swear you, really, I thought Prompto would die in the cabin when you put the ring on your hand."  
  
"What alternative was had? Were you going to put it? Would you leave Iris behind?" Gladio looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow "I don't know who she is, Prompto mentioned her."  
  
"No, I'm not going to leave Iris behind, she's my sister, I couldn't to leave her. Gladio made a pause and then, talked again.  But Libertus yes, we could have put pressure on him if you and your brother hadn't gone crazy. How now, What the hell happens with he for to attack me like this?"  
  
Nivea looked away and let out a long sigh.  
  
"The only thing that I know about sex is thanks to my cellmate... and Ardyn. Sibi told me the theory and the Chancellor... the practise."  
  
That information really took Gladio totally by surprise, he remembered that it was true that Nivea was not an ordinary girl that Prompto had left behind in his trip, she was a girl of the Empire. For Shiva ... He had forgotten that Nivea had gone through that ordeal, and most of all, he had never thought that that girl could have survived direct contact with Ardyn's skin.  
  
"Then... any apologize is a shit, I'm sorry, Nivea. "  
  
"It's part of my past, don't worry, I never knew what Ardyn made with me, maybe another experiment? I didn't care see his stupid face or smell his odious scent... His visit to my cell was another way to survive inside Niflheim's base... Sorry, I lied... I'm not happy with this choice, Gladio... Finally I could to find someone like me, someone who want to stay with me every day... I can't explain what I feel respect to Prompto but I only know that is so much special and when he heard your plan... he collapsed; you don't know how much it hurt me to see him like this..." Nivea's voice was broken as she spoke, the tears burst from her eyes and anxiety seized her mind. "For that reason... please, I want when the time arrives you hold him, I want that you and Ignis, and Noctis, prevent him to interfere. I'm not happy with this but... he deserve to keep living..."  
  
"And you not?"  
  
Nivea went to answer but did she really deserve to live? Who cared? It was no use thinking about that, the pact was done and every trace of her existence would disappear forever. The pain flooded her, that night she would pass away from Prompto and she would want to take any second with him; irritated she looked away and curled with the blanket to be hidden until Gladio turned off the flashlight.

 

* * *

  
After a few hours, Nivea's anguish crying woke up Gladio. He looked at her, discovering that no matter how brave and determined she was, that situation overwhelmed her and terrified her. He thought at that moment what would have decided if he had been him who had put on the ring, maybe he would have kept silence so he would not hurt anyone and realized that what was happening wasn't a joke. He reached out and put it on the girl's shoulder, startling her, when she looked at him, Nivea tried to take off from the face the tears:  
  
"Don't worry, we'll take care of him." He whispered.  
  
He didn't see her reaction but he didn't need it either, the girl moved in the dark and rested her head on his arm. Gladio thought back to Iris, let out a sigh, and made sure the girl didn't go cold that night. After a while, Nivea was totally asleep but he keep thought of all the words the girl had told him about her past, what would he have done if Iris had told him something like that? He didn't want to know it, and sometime in the morning, he too succumbed to sleep.


	6. The truth behind project NIVEA

The sky had barely cleared when a shaking woke the girl. Instinctively, Gladio leaped forward and blasphemed when he met Prompto's face poking through the hollow of the rock where they were still asleep.The mood of the blond guy had changed with respect to the previous day, although he was still distant with Gladio his attitude soon changed when a group of monsters came to meet them and to the surprise of the team, when Noctis materialized the weapons for his friends only appeared the pistols of Prompto and Nivea:  
  
"I hope you know how to shoot, _Daddy Gladdy_ " the girl told Gladio throwing the pistol she always had on her and didn't need the power of Noctis to function. Not that it was his strong point but thanks to her, Gladiolus distracted the cadents taking advantage that the pistol didn't eliminate them completely.   
That group of enemies hadn't been a strong opponent to shoot down but because they were one less the battle lasted longer than expected. While all the monsters lay on the ground and fading away the team got together to discuss the situation with Ignis:  
  
"I have no idea what can be ... can be anything, this would need to happen more often." Ignis thought thoughtfully.  
  
"How can you know so many things... without see it?" Nivea asked him.  
  
"Too many years have passed, at first I was a completely useless but I could to get along and now I have my senses so developed that I feel that I don't need the sight, except to see beautiful things, of course."  
  
To the girl escaped a smile her by the Ignis's answer thinking that the man became more and more endearing with every word he said.

 

* * *

  
  
The arrival at Gralea didn't leave anyone indifferent, the streets were completely devastated, there was smoke and a strong smell of putrefaction in each corner and the cadents that were appearing had signs of having begun to mutate transforming parts of its body in a species of liquid thick.  
  
"We need a place to take refuge and plan a plan, we can't go as crazy" Noctis proposed when the battle finished.  
  
"I only know where are my research center but I don't know what we can find there considering that it will be half-ruined" Nivea murmured, biting her lower lip.  
  
"But right now it must be the safest place in Gralea because of your attack, no one will be inside." - Gladio concluded after thinking a little.  
  
Prompto pursed his lips looking at his sister but the girl did not say anything; she nodded and directed to get there as quickly as possible

 

* * *

  
  
A couple more battles delayed the arrival of the team at the base and when the huge building was in front of the group the option to stay there didn' not seem such a good idea.  
  
"If someone told me that the Gotzilla's babies would be coming out that door, I'd believe it."  
  
All -except Nivea- they smiled, they had seen that film and Prompto was right:  
  
"Look at the good side, dinosaurs for dinner." Noctis said  
  
And then they went into the facility.  
  
Nivea led them to one of the floor below; on the way they looked at several corps of officers from various positions in the Empire's army, as well as hundreds of corpses dressed in white robes, masks, and more accessories than Nivea recognized as those carried by the laboratory doctors. Surely they would have fallen in their last attack, some by the collapses and others by the daemons and experiments. Finally, they came to a long, endless corridor that counted with more than thirty metal doors that indicated the number of people who had slept there; to turn on the lights, Nivea placed the front of her hand on a detector that was activated when it recognizing her, the guys had already seen it thanks to Prompto and weren't surprised either that the girl knew how to move around the place. The five of them entered the first room on the right hand side, there was four bunk beds still mounted although everyone knew they would not sleep on the sheets that had put on them:  
  
"I'm going to snoop a little." Noctis said. "Stay here, guys"  
  
"I'll go with you," Nivea answered. The king looked at her while raising an eyebrow but the girl wasn't intimidated - If you don't want to lose yourself, it's better I go with you.

 

* * *

  
  
The road they walked on didn't different so much from the previous one, there were corpses everywhere, blood and slimy remains of falling and heaps of debris:  
  
"I'm surprising that everything you have told us has been true." Noctis said after a moment of silence.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I didn't know who you were, and to this day ... I don't know really who you're but Prompto feel in love with you and I suppose he'll have his reasons."  
  
Nivea stood still, hurt by that remark from the king.  
  
"Follow me."  
  
Both walked in silence over several floors leaving behind rooms of interest that Noctis knew he would visit later; the girl instinctively moved both through the dark corridors with the broken detectors and the most hidden places to avoid the debris produced by the attack his brother's. After a while, they reached the top of the base, to the penultimate floor, which resembled the place where Prompto and the others had settled; with the only difference being that instead of having doors on both sides, so there were only them in one and all the openings that were seen were cells with black bars intertwined with each other. They both stopped a few meters later:  
  
"Welcome to my home, here I have lived all my life" the girl said opening one of the doors reminding how weeks ago she had managed to escape from there.  
  
Noctis went into that place, discovering that the cell was much smaller than he thought: it was all cement, both the floor and the walls; there was also a rather tiny and squalid mattress where even he doubted that Nivea was fully stretched, in a corner - covered by a wooden board - there seemed to be a toilet in rather poor condition and in some parts of the walls separating cells from other, he found the name of Nivea written in different ways.  
  
"Why so many times?" he wanted to know.  
  
"Do you trust all I'll say you?" she said with sarcasm.  
  
Noctis nodded a bit uncomfortably, at that moment he was aware that he had been hard enough with the girl to whom he owed at least the benefit of the doubt since he thought that if Prompto wasn't important to her she wouldn't have sacrificed herself for he before the gods.  
  
"I started writing my name on the walls when they moved me here, I think I was four years old ... I discovered that they annually gave me a test that left me pretty confused and the only thing that reminded me was my name." The girl leaned against the door frame "So I decided to write my name every time I went through that test to not forget who I was."  
  
Noctis counted all the names, he being amazed by the amount that resulted:  
  
"How could you have lived here for eighteen years?" Nivea shrugged as if she weren't surprised at all.  
  
"Do you mean by the time or by all the tests of experimentation that it suppose?"  
  
"Why you and not someone else?"  
  
"I never knew it, Prompto said me that he supposed because I developed self-awareness but while I was here I always believed that I was another human more than the Empire and Ardyn needed to experiment."  
  
"Ardyn was here?"  
  
"Oh, yes, so much time... with me and other experiments. He liked to supervise everything."  
  
"Did you meet Ardyn?"  
  
Nivea raised an eyebrow and bit her lower lip. She wasn't sure she wanted to answer that question sincerely, she had already seen Prompto's behavior and the fear that the scene would be repeated ran down her spine ... But Noctis was the king of Lucis and anyway, she would end disappearing from their lives, what did it matter if he raged or not?  
  
"Let's just say ... He came by here..." The blonde girl walked slowly to Noctis, still looking into his eyes. "I was cornered on that wall and he ordered to me 'undressed yourself' Imagine the rest.  
  
The girl watched as the king's face changed suddenly knowing that she had explained her situation perfectly, before Noctis could answer she tried to soften the situation:  
  
"I didn't know what he was doing with me, it seemed another experiment and sometimes ... less painful than others ... " her serene voice broke "But before that you think like Prompto ... Nothing that happened to me here comforted me or I liked, nothing, but taking into account that they have electrocuted me, sedated me, drugged me and a multitude of other things ... that that man came to be on me for a couple of hours was the least painful that I had to happen in the day."  
  
Ardyn's voice, with that soft and velvety tone, stirred the entrails of Noctis, and understood why Prompto had punched to Gladio ... It seemed incredible to him what he had just heard, and he knew that he couldn't imagine what kind of lab test that girl had endured if the least painful for her had been the forcing of a man like Ardyn.  
  
"How many years?" he dared to ask.  
  
"Since ten or twelve years ago" _What a son of bitch_ he thought to himself but Nivea continued talking. "Don't worry, now I'm fine; remember that is the least of my problems... He isn't even alive to reclaim anything."  
  
"Who taught you to think this way? " the king asked trying to change the subject so as not to continue thinking about everything he had heard before "Did you have talked with anyone all this time, right?"  
  
"Can you see that little hole in the wall? By there I could talk to Sibi without anyone knowing, she taught me that out of here was a very different world with people who don't hurt others; until one day simply she disappeared. I have always preferred to think that she died while experiencing with her body instead of believe that she ended ... well, like a monster, she didn't deserve to end up like that. Anyone don't deserve to end like that."  
  
"Nivea... I'm sorry. I apologize to you"  
  
The girl moved away from the door so that Noctis could go out, remember all this had been hard for her, but it had also helped her to discover that it no longer ached as much as the fact of know that she would soon be separated of Prompto and the girl admitted that was good to know that someday the king would have something to say to his brother about her. Without saying anything else she started to walk to the exit of the floor but suddenly, Noctis asked something that made her stop and turn to him totally confused:  
  
"Nivea... Are you sure that that's your real name?"  
  
The girl turned pale without realizing it and advanced again to the king who had stood at the side of her cell looking something on the wall. As she approached, Nivea found a plaque on the right wall and when she read it, her body was paralyzed with panic.  
  
 **[PROJECT N.I.V.E.A]**  
  
 **Nº I/V -EIRI ARGENTUM-**  
  
Her lower lip trembled unconsciously as she discovered that everyone had called her by the name of the experimental project to which she belonged and not by her real name:  
  
"Prompto's last name... really are you brothers?" Noctis asked.   
  
"Can't be real.. we were created by the cells of the head of investigation, we don't have a real family ... Prompto and me are clones. "  
  
"And then, what are doing his last name here? It's the last name from his family in Lucis... "  
  
An irrational panic ran down the spine of the girl, there was something on that placard that terrified her, and not only was that she discovering that everything she believed in was a string of lies; damn it, they'd been deceived her into believing Nivea was her real name, and they were just the acronym assigned to her experimentation project ... Suddenly a doubt assaulted her heart and she looked anxiously at the corner of Sibi's cell .  
She found the plaque associated with it.  
After reading it, she put her hand to the mouth and fell to the ground on her knees, losing all the strength and even the air she breathed. Noctis approached to the girl, trying to calm her down but the curiosity to know what had made her react like that made that he looked up and his blue eyes remained on the sign, without being able to do anything but think which meant for the girl discover all that:  
  
 **[PROJECT S.I.B.I]**  
  
 **SUBCATEGORY: IRIE BYRD -INVESTIGATOR-**  
  
That name ... It was the same that Nivea's real name read it upside down, could it be a coincidence? Or "Sibi" really had anything to do with everything that involved Prompto's sister? Even though Nivea was still in shock, a rush of lucidity made her react and there was a new chance of giving light to all story:  
  
"A computer ..." she murmured running.

 

* * *

  
  
Nivea's footsteps were heard long before she reached the room; she opened the door panting and exhausted, sweat fell on her forehead and for a second, the group remained tense:  
  
"Ignis ... could you still how to use a computer?"  
  
Él asintió y corrió tras la chica. Prompto y Gladio los siguieron y, aunque todo estaba muy confuso, el rubio empezó a sospechar lo que habían descubierto.  
  
After arriving at the room where Noctis had located computers, Ignis and the king focused on trying to enter the operating system of the center, Noctis gave to Ignis all kinds of details since he was unable to see them and write on the keyboard. While they engaged in computer data, Prompto and Gladio did nothing but ask about it, but no one answered them until the voice of Noctis took precedence over all the others:  
  
"What do you want to search, Nivea?"  
  
"All information about Project N.I.V.E.A"  
  
Gladio let out an exclamation of surprise and Noctis punched the key of keyboard for to generating the search. A lot of files appeared on the screen of the computer and the king clicked to open the one that more information contained in its interior, nevertheless although both he and Nivea began to read everything in their minds,  one real voice appeared to relate it for all without necessity to approach to the screen:  
  
"The Project N.I.V.E.A was born after detecting the first female Magitek and in turn, be the fifth experiment contaminated by developing immunity to the Plasmodium" Prompto said looking away. Noctis, Gladio and Ignis turned to him but Nivea continued to read the screen with her mouth half-open and watery eyes. "The first contaminated infant who developed this immunity was stolen from the investigation center and the doctors discarded the rest of infants who shared their contamination believing that it would never happen again. After many years without fail, a new infant emerged contaminated again, being the fifth Magitek in sharing these irregularities. Days after completing the tests of the female Magitek, the code of the stolen infant was detected in Lucis and the data related and associated to him said that the name was Prompto Argentum; at that moment, it was discovered that the stolen Magitek and the female Magitek shared the same contaminated DNA and to indicate that the two projects coincided, they were decided to add the inverse name of the person responsible for the contamination of the female Magitek and the family name of the stolen infant, it was like this how to born the name of the project N.I.V.E.A"  
  
"Did you know it all?..." the girl murmured turning slightly towards her brother.  
  
"All that was in the office, I thought you knew it!"  
  
"No, fuck ...! Do you think with all the center looking for me I had time to read long reports?!"  
  
The blonde guy said nothing and looked away again:  
  
"I can't believe it ... What about Irie Byrd? Was she the "person responsible"?"  
  
Prompto hesitated, the tone his sister had used to talk about that woman was more painful than normal but also he knew things about her so that ... he continued talking.  
  
"Yes, she was. She was the investigator in charge to supervise that the Magitek infants advanced without problem. She was who contaminated us with her own cells and who, in turn, she assisted with the theft of the first infant..."  
  
"... And they turned her into the project S.I.B.I?"  
  
The blond guy nodded, leaving the room once again in silence.  
  
"Are you fucking kidding me, Prompto?" the girl whispered while she walked slowly toward him, not believing what she was hearing, letting go of all the rage from inside her. "I told you about Sibi... fuck, I told you what she meant for me ... AND YOU KNEW WHO WAS , DAMM IT!  
  
"I didn't know that they were the same person!"  
  
"YOU LIED TO ME, PROMPTO! YOU KNEW EVERYTHING AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ME NOTHING! "I suppose they wanted you because you developed consciousness ..." Nivea quoted, recalling the words that he had once said to her "YOU LIED TO ME, FUCK!"  
  
"And what did you want that I do?" The tone of the guy raised up also showing anger "It's part of the fucking past"  
  
"IT'S OF MY FUCKING PAST!!" Nivea shoved her brother.  
  
"IRIE WAS MY MOTHER ALSO AND THEY CONDEMNED HER FOR TRYING TO SAVE YOU ...!" Prompto lost his nerves but as his words came out of his mouth he regretted to pronounce them.  
  
Nivea felt her heart break in a thousand pieces with those words, the reason they had condemned Irie hadn't been to contaminate the infants but because it helped to take one of them out of the laboratory and try to repeat it years later with her female baby; Prompto had just blamed her for the fate Sibi had had for trying to save her too... The tears welled up in her eyes as she realized Prompto was right. Irie had risked for both of them, having at least the luck to save one. It all made sense ... The project S.I.B.I born for to prove everything the Empire needed as punishment for her treason. A force strength pressed against Nivea's chest, she ran out ofbreathless; her strength left and her vision blurred, fortunately before she fell, Gladio held her:  
  
"Come on, leave it already, it's no use fighting over this."  
  
However,the anger, the fury and the impotence gave the girl the ability to stand up and face the greatest of the group as never before had been able to do:  
  
"STOP TO MEDDLE IN THIS, GLADIO" She yelled, pulling away from him.  
  
"I'm just saying ..."  
  
"You're always saying what it's we have to do ... IF EVERYTHING IT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO IRIS YOU WOULDN'T TELL US THAT WE WILL LEAVE IT, EH?!" With each word, Nivea pushed the man for intensify her words and instinctively, Gladio hit her in the face for having dared to mention Iris that way.  
The blonde girl fell to the ground because of the force that had been used by Gladio to hit her and, in this time, the world of Prompto was broken over by be witness the scene, without hesitation a single instant he rushed directly against Gladio. Noctis stepped between them holding his friend while Ignis held Gladiolus's arm so they would not get into a fight in that tiny room.  
  
"... I'm so sorry, Ardyn..."  
  
A sepulchral silence completely sealed the voices of the group causing Prompto to step forward to calm his sister but when the girl heard the movement and looked up causing even Noctis felt that a lump formed in the throat: Nivea her eyes were lost and it felt completely gone as if she were in the middle of a trance, a small thread of blood fell from her lip from Gladio's blow and the expression on her face showed the deepest of terrors. Slowly, Prompto approached her, holding out a hand, but the girl crawled back, trembling:  
  
"No, Ardyn ... I will not do it again ... I'll be good, I ..."  
  
"Nivea..."  
  
"NO, LEAVE ME! PLEASE DON'T DO IT AGAIN ...!" She began to scream as she closed her eyes and hid herself.  
  
"Shut her up..." Gladio begged from a corner.  
  
The blonde guy tried to approach her again but this only made the girl more afraid:  
  
"DON'T CLOSE ... PLEASE ...! I DON'T WANT DO THIS ... I'LL BE GOOD, ARDYN!"  
  
"SHUT HER UP, PROMPTO!"  
  
Without thinking, Prompto threw himself on his sister caught her by the wrists and hugged her tightly but the moment she was touched the screams of the girl rumbled throughout the base. Unable to stand it any longer, Noctis, Ignis and Gladio left the room leaving the two brothers alone hoping Prompto would be able to silence the panic of the girl.  
Once out of there, Gladio punched the wall punctured him part of the skin of the knuckles by the blow, he knew that it was all his fault and his lack of self-control, the frustration was so great that a tear came out of his gaze unable to remain hidden any longer. He glanced at his friends, Noctis had gone as far as possible from the room covering his ears and Ignis had sat on the floor without saying anything else; no one was going to say him in nothing and deep himself, that made him more angry because he knew he deserved a good beating for being able to hit a girl who was just losing her nerves by the saturation of information about her life.  
Inside the room, the blond guy managed to stay close to his sister and whispered in her ear hundreds of times to calm down, whispered that everything was a fake, that he would take care of her always; and in the end, after many attempts, between screams and tears... Nivea came her the soft scent ofPrompto bringing her mind little by little to reality. The girl slowly realized that it had all been a hallucination for the blow and that she had plunged into too real a memory. Her brother's voice entered her mind gently, comforting her, calming the pain inside her. When she could remain silent and observe that only they were two in the room, she appreciated as the forces left her, she felt the mental exhaustion after so much information and emotions in such a short time but she had enough energy to cling to the neck of Prompto and approaching to him everything that she could for to hide her face in his neck inspiring that smell that so much worshiped her, thanks to that she relaxed until finally, Prompto could lift it in weight and remove her from the room.  
Nivea closed her eyes until she knew that the two of them had returned to the room where they would spend the night. Once there, Prompto managed to curl up in bed with her still holding her in his arms, placing her in the darkest part of the bed and gently stroking her blonde hair. The girl opened her eyes again, watery, before the gentle gesture of the guy and when they crossed with eyes a wave of tenderness made her cry again and also getting Prompto sobbing with her:  
  
"Forgive me, sis...I'm so sorry" he said, hugging her to his chest.  
  
And there, with the passing of the hours they fell asleep knowing only they two were the only survivors of Niflheim and that after a long time, they had finally been able to meet again.


	7. Goodbye, Prompto

Neither of the two brothers knew how long they remained asleep in the room. Nivea was the first to wake up, and as soon as she started to get up in bed, Prompto was also awoke up.  
  
"Are you ok?" He said looking to her eyes.  
  
"I supose I needed to sleep" she replied, nodding.  
  
"Are you feeling better?"  
  
Nivea nodded again, but she was still a lot of pressure in her chest and a lump in her throat but there was nothing she could do to stop it, so she suposed that would learn to live with those feelings the short time she had left:  
  
"Do you think Sibi will be proud of us?"  
  
The blonde guy didn't respond instantly, he was afraid of hurting the girl again, she had suffered enough the night before but something in his heart, an irrational fear of losing her, gave him the courage to answer:  
  
"We are alive, and we have helped Lucis ... I think it's something for to be proud."  
  
Nivea didn't respond, maybe that information was more than enough for her. They both remained silent a while longer enjoying the company they felt:  
  
"It's rare because ... now that there is no screaming or burning smell ... it gives me the feeling of being "at home" ... I must be crazy, right?  
  
"Uhm ..." Prompto denied,giving her for first time a kiss on the forehead - you have always lived here, it's normal to feel comfortable.  
  
Without realizing it, Nivea felt her eyes become blurred again although on that occasion, it wasn't because of grief or pain. That tender kiss had caught her by surprise, she had never been given one, and it had become extremely special that there, in the place where she had just found the truth of her existence, she could felt one of the most beautiful things she had ever felt. Then she thought of Sibi's words when she once explained her what love was, the love between two lovers in the middle of the night, a child to his pet, a mother to a child ... was it love that what she felt after feel her brother's lips on her forehead?   
She ducked her head, excited and saddened at the same time, suffering because she would never feel something like that again; Prompto looked at her, knowing that it was the first time she had experienced such sensations, and instead of bothering her, he put his hand on Nivea's head and guided her gently to her chest and then put her arms around her. Slowly, they both lay down on the bed again and it was at that moment that the girl regretted having put on the ring in her finger. She sobbed as quietly as she could and stood there, clinging to his brother's chest, knowing she would soon be moving away from Prompto; for his part, the blond guy interpreted that it was only a pile of emotions that his sister needed to expel; so, without suspecting that the reality was much more intense and frightening, he stroked the girl's blond mane and closed his eyes enjoying of that feeling. Prompto felt the big difference between that same scene with Nivea and the one he'd had with Cindy weeks ago: They were lying on a bed and lovingly stroking their strands of hair, but with each one, the emotions had been completely different. It seemed curious to him that although he had hardly known Nivea it was true that from the first moment he had thought of her as a person to protect her, he had always noticed that the girl's eyes were very painful - even before she knew the whole truth about her past - and he felt he had to protect her at all costs, whatever happened, maybe it was because it was like looking at himself not only physically but also emotionally ... and he didn't like it, he hated see in those blue eyes the reflection of the pain of feeling different.  
After a while, Nivea silenced her tears and drew strength from the depths of her being to give Prompto a slight smile. He quickly detected the effort and returned the gesture, looked for something to eat while the blonde guy found a note of Noctis not far from his backpack where the king told him what they had found about the monsters:  
  
"They are so far?" Nivea said chewing with great difficulty, hardly entered anything in the stomach.  
  
"I think not, they left us a map for to know how to get there. Apparently, it isn't that there is any enemy with intelligence to expand the virus but one of the experiments with which they experimented here ... level up and is able to transfer the virus to others more easily, to put it somehow ... " explained Prompto "it has an implanted microchip that seems to duplicate with each new source that contagious; so that the only remaining they have marked them on the map so that we can meet with them in any of the points."  
  
Nivea looked up to see the map that her brother mentioned to her, the king and the group should be some three or four kilometers from there:  
  
"We'll have to get going, will not we?" Prompto said  trying to look animated.  
  
His sister nodded while smiled, both of them got out of bed and began to pack everything Noctis and the others had left them. When they finished, Prompto put an arm over Nivea's shoulder:  
  
"Everything will be okay, we are brothers."  
  
Nivea's stomach squirm even more if that could happen, but even so, she grinned from ear to ear:  
  
"I'm sure yes ... but, we also owe an apology to Gladio."  
  
"Are you serious?" Prompto exclaimed.  
  
"I lost my nerves and I spoke without thinking, it isn't that I justifies his reaction but I believe that this time really he only tried to help us."  
  
"I think he's just stupid." Prompto laughed at his comment, though he knew he would never say something like that to Gladio.  
  
"Come on, Prompto. He's your friend. Admit it."  
  
The blonde didn't say anything, he didn't think it was necessary, of course he knew that Gladio was his friend and he was sure Nivea knew it too, he was just trying to force him to admit it aloud.  
  
"I'll admit it if you admit we'll be together forever, no matter what."  
  
Nivea looked at her brother thinking he was beginning to suspect that she would disappear but ... when she looked him in the eye knew that wasn't so, Prompto continued to think that she had managed to avoid the punishment of the gods so ... for continuing to see that his half smile she lied:  
  
"Okay, asshole, I'll spend the rest of my life with you."  
  
He laughed happy that he had taken that confession to the girl ... happy not to imagine that possibly, that day would be the last one that would happen next to her.

 

* * *

  
Both brothers knew to recognize almost instantly the way taken by Noctis and the others, the three friends had left an interesting trail of dead bodies of daemons that had been decomposing for some time, the closer they came to the place, the louder and clearer the sounds of the weapons and the orders of the king didn't take long to be heard over. Turning in a corner, Prompto's pistol materialized in his hand and without even thinking twice, aimed an enemy in the distance and joined the battle. Nivea ran after him to join the group trying not to interfere in the fight since his own pistol didn't serve against the monsters but she was aware of all the group's movements and each of the guys. Thanks to that, when the daggers of Ignis disappeared she was already behind him to cover his back:  
  
"I didn't see you coming for me" Ignis said when Nivea avoided his fall.  
  
"How can you joke about it at a time like this?" she asked and Ignis let out a slight laugh as they walked away from the battle.  
  
The enemies were falling one after another until finally, only one - the biggest and most imposing of all - was to face Noctis, Gladio and Prompto. Gladio was the first to rush against him and to everyone's surprise, he was only a few inches away from striking the sword against his rival when in just a blink, that monster had changed shape and now was a girl with brown hair:  
  
"Iris..."  
  
Gladio's voice was silenced by a strong kick in the chest by the girl who threw him against a nearby wall, the power of the blow clearly indicated that the brown girl wasn't a real person but her image, her movements and even her smell - according to Ignis - was as intense and identical as the real person she was trying to imitate.  
  
At first, it was all pretty confusing, the guys were dodging the attacks of Iris while trying to assimilate that she wasn't the truth. It was Noctis, after venturing to attack the girl who received another hard blow: when his sword struck Iris's arm, it turned into a trident and the brown girl changed her appearance to that of a delicate lady dressed in white:  
  
"Luna..." the mind of Noctis hesitated and precisely, that was his mistake.  
  
The lady's counterattack was brutal, and the king fell to the ground, unconscious at once, and Nivea ran toward him, telling his name, and when she rested his head on her lap the girl discovered that all the weapons had disappeared. Ignis tried by all means make to react to Noctis while Gladio and Prompto avoided the attacks of the trident of the lady as best they could.  
The king refused to wake up for more blows he received in his face and Gladio and Prompto were having serious problems to defend themselves, Nivea threw to her brother her own gun for to have something to push back his rival but did not serve him much. Gladio received an electric shock that returned it to throw against a wall leaving also it outside of combat, Prompto was the unique one that was managing to endure - to barely - the confrontation. The girl was aware that he wouldn't last long, she had to help him, but how? Nivea looked at the king and Ignis knowing that it would be impossible to win without the help of Noctis; she stared at Prompto again and saw how this woman managed to knock him down and throw him to the ground. Suddenly she looked on the royal ring...   
She didn't think, she simply grabbed Noctis's hand and snatched the ring from him and placed it on her middle finger; a rotten black spot began to expand by Nivea's arm causing a pain so intense that she had to shout to release the adrenaline, yet nothing of that mattered at all when she saw Prompto lying on the ground about to be attacked certainly by his enemy. Nivea stretched out her hand wishing that the ring would help her instead of making her disappear prematurely and her feelings materialized with the form of the Ex Machina king's sword around her hand. Nivea already had a weapon to defend herself against, but she was too far away from his brother to reach him and save him from the blow ... except ...  
Imitating Noctis, the girl threw the weapon against the lady in white dress and visualized catching the sword in the flight. The clash between the trident and the Ex Machina sword caused the sparks to leap as the two women stared into each other's eyes. Nivea continued to beat her until the monster chose to return to its original form to make all its energy and to cope with it, the girl drew unconsciously a smile knowing the owner of the situation, the teleportation was as comfortable and she learned quickly how it worked. Slowly, the cuts of the sword weakened her enemy until finally, with a swift movement in the air, Nivea managed to knock it down and throw it to the ground.  
  
"It's over." she said, standing on top of its, aiming to its neck with his sword.  
  
From the corner of his eye she saw that not only was his brother well, but Noctis had awakened; on the other side, Gladio hobbled and smiled at him in the distance. The monster grunted accepting its final destination:  
  
"Any last words?" Nivea smiled raising the sword ready to finish with all.  
  
However, her rival smiled devilishly and reshaped an identity that left both the girl and everyone present breathless: The unmistakable golden-eyed face half hidden under a wide-brimmed hat, the soft and indomitable hair that walked between reddish and violet ... That disgusting aroma of laboratory, blood and rage ...  
  
"Oh, we'll see in hell, my sweet sunflower"   
  
"...Ardyn..."  
  
The monster smiled just before turning one of its limbs into a long, sharp stalactite that pierced Nivea's chest.  
  
The girl felt nothing but an intense pain in her chest, the strong odor of blood made her feel that she wouldn't come out alive from that situation but also thought that she wasn't ready to leave the world with the image of Ardyn engraved in the mind. She fought with all her might to stay awake despite the pain; she saw how Gladio, Prompto, and even Ignis had pounced on the enemy, not caring that they were unarmed; Noctis had approached her to retrieve his royal ring from his hand.  
She never knew how long it took them to remove the monster definitively, only as she felt the blood flowing out of her body she thought of the cruel way the gods had taken her with them. They weren't going to give her the option to say goodbye to Prompto or any of the guys in general, they were a bunch of bastards ... the grief overwhelmed her and watered her eyes and just she wanted to keep the image of Prompto's face etched in her gaze until the end, he had ended up being the most important to her. She smiled because, thanks to that, she understood the suffering of everyone for having lost Noctis, Prompto had had right in the cabin because the pain would have been the same if Ignis, Gladio or the same blond guy had died instead of Noctis, the group needed to be united again and that comforting her heart, she hoped that the guys would stay together again thanks to her sacrifice.  
She smiled, happy, she really was because she had helped them and then, her brother's voice brought her back to reality:  
  
"NIVEA ...! DON'T LEAVE ME! Let's go, IGNIS, HELP ME ...!  
  
"Prompto..." she interrupted.  
  
They all looked at each other, knowing that it was time for farewell.  
  
"GLADIO, LET'S GO TO ...!  
  
"Prompto, please..." the girl smiled. As she could, she clung to his brother's shirt to hide the face on his neck, she couldn't look at him in the face to confess her last words "Forgive me ... really, sorry..."  
  
"Nivea, please, don't spe..."  
  
"I lied to you... I'm so sorry... forgive me..."  
  
"No ... you cann't leave me now ... " Prompto tried to look his sister in the face but she didn't want "Please tell me it isn't true..."  
  
"I brought you to Noct ... that was the pact, right?"  
  
"No, Nivea ... you cann't leave me alone here..."  
  
The girl began slightly to shine and to become more and more transparent. The time had come, everyone knew it:  
  
"You're not alone, Prompto ..." she said, then she glanced at Gladio hoping he would remember his request  "You have your friends..."  
  
Nivea released her hand from her brother's shirt and Gladio took a step forward to grab the blond guy without notice and separate him from her. He struggled but the strength of Gladio was much greater than his:  
  
"Goodbye, Prompto... I always love you"   
  
Those were her last words before a golden light completely enveloped her, but she was sure that no one heard her, for Prompto's cry echoed throughout in all parts of Gralea, followed by the bitterest tears the guys had ever heard; but they knew that the most painful wound they had was the one of the heart, the one to dismiss that girl who without reason had sacrificed to reunite the group renouncing to her own life.

 

* * *

  
  
Nivea couldn't open her eyes but she knew that she was in a warm place and that she was floating somewhere in the cosmos, she wondered if that was what awaited her for all eternity.  
  
"I hope not to feel the time ... nor to have conscience ... I already miss Prompto ..." she thought realizing that she still seemed to be alive, one way or another.  
  
She felt herself strange because the only thing she appreciated was how the air, a scent, seemed to hold her between invisible arms. Little by little, the warm place became colder, more real, and above all she noticed how the atmosphere began to get wet; slowly, Nivea regained her strength to open her eyes, no longer felt any pain in her chest and her energy seemed to be regenerating.   
When the girl opened his eyes, she discovered that the sky of Gralea opened again. She looked to her left, looking into Noctis, Ignis ... and Gladio still holding Prompto a few yards from her position. Everyone was amazed and she, too, did when she heard the weak voice of Noctis:  
  
"Luna...?"  
  
Nivea turned her head to the right discovering as the same lady dwith white dress that before had faced Noctis was holding her in her lap. Nevertheless, and despite the image she had of her, this woman didn't seem to her any enemy, from the lady emanated elegance and delicacy reminding her the figure who had defended her before the gods of Eos:  
  
"My king," she said, nodding.  
  
Her voice was soft, barely a whisper, but quiet and beautiful.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Noctis asked, taking a step forward.  
  
"I came to give you news from the gods" delicately, the woman got up and reached out to Nivea, the girl accepted her hand apreciating her beauty and she stood up while still looking her in the eyes "I have to clarify certain things."  
  
"Don't say more, I have to return?" The king asked her.  
  
The lady denied slowly.  
  
"Does she have to desappear, Lady Lunafreya?" Prompto wanted to know.  
  
"No one is going to return, for now" she replied looking at Nivea "Although all Gods knew that this girl wouldn't return to the astral plane."  
  
"Why not?" Asked the blonde girl, stunned.  
  
"When humans ask for help from the gods, it's always to get the power to save a people, a nation, to protect someone important in exchange for their life ... but you sacrificed yourself for gathering a group of friends ... for to avoid that another like you would suffer again. You're a child of Niflheim and you have shown the heart of the purest royalty of this nation, so, Nivea ... you will not return to the astral plane."  
  
At first the girl didn't know whether to rejoice, to weep or to hug the woman who carried such beautiful news, but she wasn't accustomed to making things work so well:  
  
"Do not they really ask me for anything in return?"  
  
Lunafreya smiled with resignation, of course the gods asked for something in return but perhaps not in the way she expected:   
  
"The king will return in your place, but not for now... The Gods aware that although the monsters and the virus have been defeated on this occasion, anyone can start the process again and therefore Lucis needs an heir, a new prince who is responsible for bringing peace and stability to the world by once again using the power of the Crystal ... for this the gods have decided that the return of Noctis to the astral plane will not be imminent but, as much he and I, we will when Lucis has a new heir capable to govern and to prolong the use of the power of the crystal we will return with them."  
  
Everyone was left processing this information, Lunafreya blushed a little but patiently waited for someone to decide to talk:  
  
"So ..." Prompto started saying "Lucis need a new heir and... you'll stay here until then?"  
  
The lady nodded, smiling at him.  
  
"And I'll stay here as if nothing had happened? I will never return to the astral plane again" Nivea murmured "But you both yes, when your baby become in king. Only you both will return."  
  
Luna nodded again.  
  
Unable to resist it, the girl turned and started to run to the neck of Prompto with a cry and such was the impulse that the two fell to the ground.  
  
"I PROMISED YOU! I PROMISED YOU, REMEMBER?" She shouted him over and over again.  
  
And so they stood for a long time while Gladio looked them crossing their arms at the level of his chest; while Noctis and Luna rubbed their noses with affectionate gesture and at the same time that Ignis smiled knowing that everything had finally had a happy ending.

 

* * *

  
  
 ** _Three years later._**  
  
Nivea picked up her blond and wavy mane in a ponytail on the top of her head with the black ribbon, combed her bang to one side. Then she took her black jacket, elegant and ready to be newly released, once fixed she adjusted the gloves and let out a sigh looking at the mirror; from the first time she had seen the King's Glaives uniform she had dreamed of being able to wear it, and now, as she was the leader of the new Era, she was fully happy. She remembered how many things had happened since her arrival in Lucis:   
Ignis had taken over all the communications with the nations close to Lucis, had become the official spokesman for the Glaives, the king and Lucis in general, and nothing was better than that - this wasn't true, his cooking was the better thing in the world - In addition, he controlled to perfection the new technology that entered in Lucis.  
On the other hand, Gladio became the new captain the army, instructing the new soldiers to be Glaives worthy of the confidence of the king and the new heir, he was hard and constant but he enjoyed with everything that he did and had been able to gather a group of more than two hundred soldiers ready to give their lives for King Noctis and Queen Lunafreya as well as for their homeland.  
Needless to say, the personal bodyguard of the kings of Lucis was Prompto, on each trip and at each exit his freckled face always appeared behind Noctis, he was his new counselor, although he wasn't good at giving advise his king... Nevertheless, his relationship with Cindy continued its course and the mechanics happened to work in the imperial court. And not only that, about six months ago they had been the parents of a _stupid-baby_ that they had called Dair, a new Argentum who still kept his hair blond and his cheeks full of freckles.  
  
Everyone had managed to live the life they deserved, even her... the new Glaives's leader. Someone knocked on the door just as the clock struck twelve o'clock, the door opened and Prompto's head - also dressed in his uniform - wink at her:  
  
\- It's time, _my Captain_.  
  
She smiled and started to walk behind him. On that day, it was the day when the next heir to the throne was finally presented to whole Lucis, and no one, not even them, knew what genre that was the baby of Noctis and Luna - who also celebrated that day its first month of life -.  
  
"Nervous, Captain?" Gladio laughed when they met.  
  
She denied it, but it was a clear lie. It was the first time she paraded officially and did n't know how the kingdom of Lucis would take her. She swallowed and waited in silence until the doors opened and then she saw a long and gigantic red carpet that carried her, and her group and the hundred new soldiers, until to marble steps where, on top of them, the kings were waiting for them:  
  
"After a long time, Lucis finally entered that era of peace that we longed waiting for, both Luna and I are aware of the suffering and effort that this country has had to overcome ..." Noctis started to say, serious, regal, with the a dignified demeanor of a king. "So there's nothing to please us more than to introduce you all to new Lucis's heiress."  
  
Nivea blinked in surprise and out of the corner of her eye, she discovered that her three companions seemed equally astonished as she to hear that Noctis had spoken in feminine about Lucis' future sovereign. The king continued talking and to be aware of the confusion he had created with his words:  
  
"We have great women in our ranks, starting with the Glaives leader and going through each and every one of the women who fight and raise the kingdom every day ... That is why, together we have decided that as say the law, the first and the only eldest son of the king governs Lucis, let us officially welcome **Eibriel Lucis Caelum**."  
  
The celebration was apotheosis and everyone celebrated it until the night came that was what Nivea most wanted, finally it was time to rest ... She went into the house a little dizzy from the drink she had drunk, and the soft scent of flowers that her home had made her numb a little more, let out a small laugh and dropped on the sofa. She barely managed to take off her boots, eagerly sucked the smell of the room as she closed her eyes and sighed slowly to relax completely. Opening the eyes again, she shook her head until she stared at the two photos that she had placed at side to the television: one of them, it was a photo of the day Dair was born, she thought that the baby seemed so ugly when she looked to him, but in the pic appeared Prompto, Cindy and herself gathered around the baby showing their best smiles... Nivea loved so much that moment; next to this photo, in the other frame, the photo was in black and white and only a woman dressed in a lab coat appeared and it was quite clear that she was not aware that they were taking a photograph.  
Nivea smiled, she loved with all her heart those photos. Without realizing it, and just before falling asleep, she shed a tear giving a last thought full of gratitude to someone very special to her, giving a tear of happiness to who taught her to fight for the outside and for herself.  
  
"Thank you ... Sibi"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all.  
> This story was born in March and I've always had doubts about posting it or not and I think what made me do it was the little information that the Episode Prompto gave me regarding my favorite character.  
> To all who have finished it, you have liked it or not, thanks for reading ^. ^
> 
>  
> 
> Besides this, I also have a fairly extensive continuation with new characters xD but that ... maybe not publish if nobody cares. In case you want to continue reading derivations of this fanatic from Prompto ... leave me a comment ^ - ^


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